How Far We've Fallen
by TheYoungJusticeFangirls
Summary: The year is 2021, and Lex Luthor has become president. After a botched mission, the team goes into hiding, so Lex promises to protect the citizens of America with a new batch of heroes. But this new generation needs training, so the prestigious Academy for the Gifted is opened. But little do they know, not everything is as it seems... (SYOC)
1. S1, Episode 1: Storms Brewing

Summary:

The year is 2021 and Lex Luthor was elected president. The team has gone into hiding after coming under public scrutiny when a failed mission against the Joker occurred. Now, Lex Luthor has vowed to have new heroes take up the Young Justice League's job, heroes that are dedicated to protecting the innocent at all costs. Little do these "Heroes" know, they are being manipulated...

Lex is secretly training superpowered teens under the false image that they will become heroes, when they're really only going to be carrying out his evil bidding. Most people are oblivious to their presidents evil schemes. But not all. A rebellion has risen in America to overthrow their president, and it all starts at Luthor's Academy for the Gifted.

* * *

 **Metropolis**

 **September 9th, 09:48 EST**

 **2021**

It was a beautiful day in Metropolis; the sun was shining, the birds were chirping away, and the people were excited at the opening of a new Institute in the city. But inside this new Academy, a storm was brewing. A storm of sweat, determination, and paintballs.

"Go, go, go!" A tall, muscular man with short cropped hair yelled. He stood behind a glass viewing window, watching a group of students try to work their way through an obstacle course. He snorted in disgust and disappointment as he watched their efforts, then took a swig of a drink. Probably something alcoholic.

"Harvard… don't you think you went a little too... hard on these kids? It's the first day after all." A young woman watched them worriedly, wincing as a kid slipped off the monkey bars and fell onto the cold floor. She had light brown hair pulled into a messy bun and box glasses that framed her worried green eyes.

Harvard rolled his eyes at the woman; he thought she was too soft." I don't think I'm going hard enough." He frowned at the child who had fell, then pressed a small button that turned on a speaker."Get up! Giving up is for quitters!" He barked into the microphone. The students glanced over at him, startled by how loud the speaker was."See, Genevieve? Incentive."

"Harvard… don't use the paint ball guns," Genevieve sighed, now legitimately fearing for the students' safety.

Harvard simply raised an eyebrow at the woman, then deliberately pressed a button to fire off the paint ball guns at them. Genevieve shook her head in weariness, then turned her attention to a student that piqued her interest.

The girl had loose butterscotch ringlets pulled into a scrunchie, and was wearing a sweater with white washed jeans. She didn't look like she was trying much, or cared about getting in. "Jeez, paintballs. Great," She muttered sarcastically. "Good job Ana. You wanted to do investigative journalism, you got it. This undercover job is just stupidity. You're gonna get yourself killed because of your stubbornness," She huffed to herself, swinging herself up as she figured out how to cross the quicksand quick and easy...ish: Tripping other students and hopping across their backs. "You do what you gotta do for a story," the seventeen-year-old nodded to herself, wondering why the opening test was so difficult.

Back in the viewing room, Harvard had finally had enough of the disappointments that were his class. He sighed, grabbed his drink and exited the room, making his way out to the gymnasium.

"You all failed. Horribly," He grumbled, not caring much if he hurt their feelings.

Genevieve was more of a motherly woman, and couldn't bear to see the hurt on these children's faces." They weren't bad at all!" She interjected, swatting Harvard on the arm.

"No, we did pretty bad lady," Ana mumbled under her breath.

Harvard grinned at Genevieve triumphantly, then took another gulp of his drink." See? She agrees. They were awful," He smirked.

"Stop drinking," The young woman adjusted her glasses, glaring at her colleague. She wholeheartedly disapproved of his habits, and had tried to get him to stop many times; all of which were fruitless. " You're setting a bad example."

Ana subtly took a picture of Harvard drinking, quickly hiding her camera. She turned on her voice recorder as the two argued. "I think it's great that a teacher is drinking." She remarked.

"I like her," Harvard grinned, pointing at his student. Genevieve looked horrified.

Ana chuckled, and directed her comment to Harvard, "That emotion don't quite look good on ya teach. Keep ta scowling maybe?" She nodded to Genevieve, "Your face is gonna stick like that y'know."

Genevieve interrupted the banter with a single finger, hoping to stop things before Ana's evidence got incriminating, " Anyways, moving on." She cleared her throat, obviously preparing for a big speech, " As you stand here in this new compound today, you are the future of our safety and country."

"Oh boy. It's a lecture," Ana drawled, crossing her arms.

Genevieve shot Ana a harsh glare, but pressed on, " By coming to this school, you are shaping the future of the world. You are a part of something greater than this!" Genevieve said with excitement gleaming in her eyes.

"What future?" Ana snorted, raising an eyebrow at Genevieve's excitement.

"America's future! You will be protecting the innocent! Stopping the forces of evil!" The young woman breathed, practically launching into another speech on that topic alone.

"Because everyone wants to risk their lives for strangers," Ana drawled, obviously unexcited.

"Again, may I point out, I like this one," Harvard chucked a bit, elbowing his co-worker.

"Enough!" Genevieve threw her hands up, adjusting her crooked glasses." Stay on topic, Harvard."

A smirk grew on Ana's face, "Ooo, lady's got a temper. Now there's some personality peeking through the pep."

"Temper?" Genevieve spluttered, narrowing her eyes. She was obviously peeved at Ana." I have no temper,"She sniffed.

"That's what people with a temper say," Ana pointed out, mock-seriously.

Genevieve's face turned a strange shade of red, and a muscle ticked in her cheek."Careful," Harvard whispered."She gives out detentions."

"Ooo, scaaary," Ana whispered back, nodding.

The young woman had reached her breaking point. She didn't have much toleration for teasing. "I am a medic! And you'd better hope you don't get hurt!"

"I won't miss. I'm going to be on the informational team," Ana hummed, chuckling at the colour Genevieve had turned.

"She looks like a strawberry, doesn't she?" He snickered.

"Yes. Though maybe it's more of a Pomegranate," Ana grinned back.

The medic threw up her hands, effectively throwing her papers all over, then was gone in a flash of light.

Harvard shook his head condescendingly,"Teleporters. They're so finicky." He stepped back in front of the class and cleared his throat. "Right. Now that we have her gone, we can get back to what I was going to say before. If you went into the field now, you would all most likely die."

The students stared at him slack jawed, some looked like they were even about to cry. But he continued on. "However, with a bit of persistence and work… it may be possible for you to turn out to be the heroes you so desire to be, and you may end up helping a cause greater than yourself. I know there will be bumps in the road. Some of your classmates will die, you will fail many, many times. But you cannot give up in the face of adversity. Live long and prosper, young grasshoppers. Be here at 7am tomorrow. Class Dismissed." And with that the combat teacher, Harvard Jasper, took another drink of his alcohol and strode out of the gymnasium, leaving his students to ponder his speech.

Ana cackled and started clapping. "Greatest speech ever, teach." She looked around and smirked to herself, "I think I've got my work cut out for me."

* * *

Inside an office, a figure watched the news feed about the opening day of the academy. He sipped a glass of expensive scotch as a smiled played at his lips; it was a very good day for him. He had taken a gamble by opening this Academy, but he had manipulated the media and the public to an extent where he didn't have to worry about anyone trying to close it down. Even the Justice League wouldn't be able to stop this.

A soft knock at the door pulled him out of his thoughts, and he swiveled around in his chair, "Come in." He called softly.

"Mr. President." His assistant, Mercy Graves, stepped into his office, her auburn hair pulled into a low bun. "There still has yet to be an official statement released regarding the Institute from the Justice League. They've remained silent on this case." She reported.

A smile spread on the man's lips as he heard the news. This wasn't a surprise to him, the Justice League had disappeared from the public eye, now working in the shadows like their covert protege team once did.

"Thank you Mercy. Please, keep me informed if that changes," He nodded to her as she left, quite pleased from the way everything was turning out for him. Superman no longer interfered with his plans, Supergirl hadn't been seen in a month, Aquaman had returned to Atlantis, and Batman hadn't been seen since the League's public image was destroyed. Since taking office, his profits had nearly doubled and public approval soared.

President Lex Luthor swiveled back around in his leather chair, then went back to looking out the window of the Oval Office. It was a very good day indeed, with no one left to ruin it.

* * *

 **AN:Plot Queen Quinn and Lady Kat- Well Howdy everyone! Welcome to our SYOC! We hoped you enjoyed this not-so- short Prologue to the story. We didn't intend for it to be this long, we just had so much fun writing the scenes XD. So obviously, the story takes place a little bit in the future where Lex is now creating his own superhero force to "keep the peace." He's really just using them under the pretense that it's all for good cause. And that's where you guys come in! We'd like a group of OCs to take Luthor's academy by storm. Whether they work for or against him is up to you…**

 **We're also going to need a few villains in the future, but we'll save those for later!**

 **The form and Rules are on our profile! Hope to see your characters soon! Thanks for reading!**


	2. S1, Episode 2:Behind Their Backs

**How Far We've Fallen**

 **.x.x.x.x.x**

 **Season 1, Episode 2**

 ** _~The YoungJusticeFangirls~_**

 **Metropolis**

 **September 9th, 10:34 EST**

 **2021**

A young student sat in the principal's office, her head was down as she watched him go over her files on her powers and some old school records. Her long hair was in two braids that fell at her side while her hazel eyes watched him nervously. She would have said something, It'd been almost an hour since she walked into his office and he'd said almost nothing to her, but she was too scared to force any words out.

"Interesting," the principal drawled in a way that implied the exact opposite. "You are dismissed, Miss Jace. I look forward to seeing you in this school." Jace nodded. She gathered her things and quickly left the office, heading down the hall. Initiation started soon, and Jace didn't want to be late. She sighed, hurrying to the auditorium, then yelped when she bumped into someone. She rubbed her eyes tiredly, then gazed up to find an older girl staring at her. The journalist, Ana, pressed her lips into a frown as she noticed the papers that were now scattered on the floor.

"Sorry." The twelve year old girl stammered, hurriedly picking up her papers that now decorated the floor of the hallways.

"It's fine kid," Ana grunted, leaning down and helping Jace with her things.

"Thanks…" Jace took her pages and coughed softly, "Sorry. I-I'm getting over a cold."

"No problem," Ana shrugged, tightening her scrunchie as she studied the younger girl. Jace eyed her carefully, she was odd in her opinion. She wiped her nose on her sleeve and looked around the hall nervously as students watched her. She shrunk back and a nervous whine escaped her thin lips.

Ana sighed, feeling bad for the little girl, and pulled out a handkerchief from her pocket, "Here. Use this."

"I'm fine, thanks." Jace muttered stubbornly, pushing the offer away. "I have to go… Leave me alone, okay?" She said quietly. Jace went to walk down the hall as people's eyes lingered on her. She started breathing heavier and tried to ignore them.

Ana bit her lip as she watched Jace's steps with her eyes. She sighed, feeling bad for the shy student. "Hey. You okay kid?" She asked as she decided to follow her down the hall, giving the people staring a nasty look.

"I'm fine. I told you." Jace growled. She knew she was not fine, she was on the brink of a panic attack, but she'd never let them see her crumble. She was too darn stubborn. "And I'm not a kid…"

"You are to me," Ana scoffed, crossing her arms. "And I don't believe you. You're definitely not fine."

Jace growled at her defensively, "I said I'm fine, therefore, I am. What is your problem? Jeez." She brushed away a strand of hair that had spilled from her braids.

"I don't have a problem," Ana snarked back, "But I think you do. Are you a brat to everyone that is concerned for you?"

"No!" Jace fired, holding in her sensitive side that was about to come out and play. She desperately clung to a calming thought and tried to shut everyone out, pressing her eyes closed. She didn't like attention much, and it was getting hard not to run away from all of it.

Ana huffed as she crossed her arms, glancing at her gawking classmates. "What're you looking at? Move along," she snarled at the students staring. They hurriedly went back to their own business. Looking back at Jace, Ana raised an eyebrow. .

"Well. I'm gone." Jace started to walk off again, pulling her bag over her shoulders tighter.

Ana sighed and pushed up her glasses. 'It's really all about journalism and getting the truth to the news, but I can't tell someone that,' she thought as she followed.

"Why are you following me?" Jace called without looking back at Ana, she knew it was her.

Ana shrugged and answered, "Just 'cause. You're a brat, but an interesting brat."

"I'm not a brat. And I'm not interesting. There is nothing 'cool' about me."

Ana let out a breath of disbelief. "It isn't about 'cool'. As well as, you've got to be the least bit interesting, or have some talent, to be in this school." She pressed.

"I'm not. I have a talent, but it won't benefit you…" Jace hissed through her teeth.

"You don't know that," Ana hummed, tightening her scrunchie. 'She must have some kind of power or talent. I guess it's supposed to be hidden, but...well, even if curiosity killed the cat, satisfaction brought it back.'

"I do." Jace retorted, not slowing her walking pace. It was a bit later when she realized she had no idea where she was going, but she kept on going anyways.

Ana followed silently, subtly taking pictures the farther they travelled. "Hey. Do you even know where you're goin' kid?"

"Nah. I just like to go somewhere. I've been to Sedan… England. Lotsa places." Jace muttered with a little shrug, quickening her pace. But Ana was taller, and had a faster stride, making it impossible to lose her.

Ana nodded, speeding up as well, "Interesting. A little shrimp like you travels a lot. Is it because of your parents?" She asked, subtly switching her voice recorder on.

"They have the money to go places." Jace lied smoothly.

"Huh, interesting. What kind of jobs do they have?" Ana asked nonchalantly.

"Mum's a doctor, Da's a manager for an online security training company." Jace was proud of her parents, sure, but she didn't tell the whole truth, they were also drug traffickers, amongst other things. If she'd known Ana was digging for a story, she would have told her everything. She was suspicious though, the questions were weird.

Ana hummed in response. "Ah. So, what are your powers anyway?" She inquired.

Jace finally gave in, tired of the girl's questions, "I can't die… and I can heal people. That part is tricky though."

Ana raised an eyebrow. "So, you're immortal? Or you just get a do over?" Jace was silent; she remembered she wasn't supposed to talk about that. The government actually came to her and told her not to say anything about it, so of course she would stay quiet.

Ana caught the hint and sighed, "Fine. Fine, classified right? Whatever. How about where the heck are we?" She glanced around the area, noticing there weren't many classrooms or other students here.

"No idea. Wanna take a look around?" The younger girl didn't want to be enemies with Ana, and figured getting to know the school would be the best way to get on her good side again.

"Sure," Ana shrugged, wanting to get more details on the school anyways. Jace walked further into the dark corridor they'd found themselves in. Everything in the shadows gave off an eerie vibe and they were almost sure something would pop out and chase them away. Jace sighed nervously and hung back waiting for the other girl. Ana glanced around, a habit she had picked up in her few years of journalism, then her eyes settled on a door that said 'Restricted Access.'

"Wanna check it out?" Ana asked, subtly taking a picture of the sign. The younger girl turned and gazed at the wooden door Ana's eyes had landed on, she considered her options. On one hand, she might miss initiation or she would get caught… on the other there was the adventure of the unknown. It wasn't very hard for Jace to choose.

"Are you sure we're allowed in there?"Jace raised an eyebrow, biting her lip nervously.

"Oh come on. This is our school, we might as get to know it. And besides, we'll only be taking a quick peek." Ana smirked at her, then glanced both ways down the hall. It seemed that they weren't in the main part of the building anymore, and there wasn't anyone in the hallway but them. She strode over to the wooden door, studied the lock, then pulled a hair pin out of her pocket. It was cliche, but it worked most times. Jace frowned, then walked over as Ana began to try and pick the lock. She rolled her eyes, then simply opened the door.

"Oh. It was unlocked," Ana mumbled. "Less work I have to do." She grinned, then stepped inside. What she found wasn't really what she expected. It was a narrow hallway that didn't match the modern feel of the rest of the academy, it seemed like it would belong in an office building. It wasn't too long, and only had 3 wooden doors that looked to have little to no security at all.

"This place is creepy…" Jace muttered under her breath.

Ana held a finger to her lips, telling the younger girl to be very quiet. She looked into the first room, and to her dismay she found it empty of whatever had been inside. Closing the door quietly, Ana moved onto the next room, then sighed when she discovered it was cleaned out too.

The final room she hadn't checked read 'Records', and Ana figured that had to be important. "I hope this one isn't empty as well." She muttered, then stepped inside. It was in the process of being cleaned out; there wasn't anything in there beside a desk and a filing cabinet, but she supposed it was better than nothing. Ana hurried over to the filing cabinet first, eagerly tearing through all the drawers.

"Did you find anything?" Jace asked, going through the desk. She rifled through the drawers, then frowned when nothing turned up. "There's nothing in here," She reported.

"Nada." Ana sighed, pursing her lips in disappointment. Her eyes swept the room, hoping to find anything, then her gaze zeroed in on a cord that she hadn't noticed were peeking out from behind the filing cabinet. She peered behind it, then spotted a paper shredder with several documents already reduced to shreds. Resting on top of the shredder was a stack of files that had yet to be torn apart.

"Jackpot." Ana breathed, snatching it up eagerly. She pulled out her camera, then got ready to snap some pictures as she opened the folder.

The pages inside were obviously outdated; the edges were yellowed and there was an old coffee stain at the edge of one of the papers. But Ana couldn't believe her eyes. The first page was a sort of profile for a hero once named Artemis; there was a large 'Missing' written at the top, with a grainy photo of a blonde below it. She recognized her as Green Arrow's old mentee. Jace peered at the page as well, her eyebrows rising in curiosity when she saw the old hero.

Ana took a quick picture, then turned the page to find another hero called Aqualad. She grimaced, seeing several lines of text whited or crossed out.

"Aqualad… wasn't he Aquaman's sidekick?" Jace asked, raising an eyebrow. She tried to recall what had happened to him, then her eyes lit up as she remembered. "Didn't he return to Atlantis?"

"Yeah," Ana muttered, taking another picture. She flipped through the other documents, and frowned as she realized they were all profiled of the Justice League's former protégés. Most of the papers had lines inked out, and revealed little information. "Why would a school like this have these kind of papers?" She mumbled to herself. The papers were strange, and it made Ana want to investigate more.

Suddenly, the intercom crackled to life as the Academy's secretary made an announcement, "All students please report to the auditorium for initiation. Bring any and all weapons, gadgets, and fighting gear. Initiation will begin in 10 minutes." The woman reported.

Jace and Ana glanced at each other, then scrambled to put the papers back in order and set them on top of the shredder again. "The auditorium is on the other side of the school, right? We have to hurry." Ana hissed, grabbing her friend and pulling her out of the office. She made sure to shut the door tightly, then the pair took off down the hall, trying to make it to initiation.

 **An: Hello everyone! We're back with a late (and short) update! This took a bit longer due to some delays, but it's done! So we decided to set the scene for next chapter with this update, because next chapter is going to be crazy. Your OCs will appear, and the initiaton will happen. We haven't decided who's in yet, as submissions close today.**

 **Just a general thank you to everyone who submitted! We look forward to writing your OCs! We are going to try and set a loose schedule, and try and update at least once or twice a month. In exchange for these few updates, there will be fairly long chapters so don't fret! That's all for today, expect the next chapter in a week or so!**

 _~The Fangirls_


	3. S1, Episode 3: Initiation Day

**How Far We've Fallen**

 **.x.x.x.x.x**

 **Season 1, Episode 3**

 ** _~The YoungJusticeFangirls~_**

 **Luthor's Academy for the Gifted, Courtyard**

 **September 9th, 9:25 EST**

 **2021**

A teenage girl approached the gates of Luthor's Academy for the Gifted, surveying the grounds. The building was very modern and high tech. Marble and steel making up the majority of the structure, though it had several large windows giving it a welcoming and bright feel. In front of the school laid a roomy courtyard. It was a beautiful area full of flowers of all hues, each gave off a sweet scent, like a note in a song. Tall trees the framed the sides near white walls provided shaded areas to relax. The whole campus was gorgeous. It was just the kind of place someone like Lex Luthor would build.

Gezella Leclerc took a deep breath, taking in the whole scene. Even though she hated Luthor, she had to admit, this was a pretty impressive school. She wandered down the cobblestone path that led up to the doors, admiring the extensive gardening done and care the area received.

"The courtyard could be a good place for stargazing." Gezzie mumbled to herself, tightening the ribbon that held back her sandy blonde hair. She heard footsteps to her left, then turned to see a young man approaching her. He was quite a few inches taller than her and had a thin build, unkempt black hair framed his hexagonal shaped face, and he had light brown skin.

"Hello! You're a new student?" The boy waved energetically to her. Gezzie tilted her head; she could tell he was outgoing, but he seemed to be trying a bit too hard.

"Yeah. I'm new." She replied a bit coldly. A silence settled between them as the boy tried to figure out how to respond. It was obvious he wasn't too good with making simple conversation with people, despite how friendly he tried to be.

"Oh," He gave her a small smile. "I've been here for a couple days now."

"That's nice," Gezzie nodded. The silence between them was back again.

"What's your name?" He asked curiously.

"I'm Gezzie Leclerc," The girl replied easily.

He grinned at her then stuck out a hand. "Nice to meet you. I'm Avi Redhawk."

Gezzie cautiously met his hand, giving it a firm shake. "Are you here to be a hero as well?" She asked and raised a curious eyebrow.

Avi shifted a bit uncomfortably, like he was unsure of himself. "Not exactly. I mean, I'm here to help the heroes. But I won't exactly be fighting."

"You won't be fighting? What do you do?" She stared at him quizzically.

"I, uh, I'm actually an inventor!" He gave her a nervous smile." I know it's not as important as being a field member, but I can be a help with machinery and my inventions."

"Oh. Well, that's different. Are you here on a scholarship or something?" Gezzie asked, happy that a conversation was finally starting between them. Avi seemed like a good guy, and she was happy to be making friends on the first day.

Avi seemed less enthusiastic about this fact, "Yes… a scholarship," He sighed. Gezzie figured there was something more behind this answer, but decided not to press it." How about you?" He asked.

"I came here to become a hero. It's my dream and all," Gezzie said happily, starting to babble. She tended to talk a lot when she was passionate about a subject.

"I grew up in this little place in Maine, and I always wanted to help people with my powers-"

"Wait! You have powers?" Avi asked excitedly, cutting her off. "I wish I had powers. I'd probably be more useful." He sighed, then motioned at her to explain more.

Gezzie bit her lip, deep in thought. "Well…," She rolled up the left sleeve of her gray button-up blouse to reveal a tattoo that wrapped around her arm. It read, 'Sometimes all it takes is a voice, one voice that becomes a hundred, then a thousand, unless it's silenced.'

"Nice tattoo," Avi commented, and she flashed him a small, slightly proud, smile.

"Watch this," Gezzie told him, then narrowed her eyes in concentration. The ink under her skin swirled around, then seemed to rearrange as it changed into a tattoo of a constellation.

"That's so cool." He gaped at her. "So you… can control your tattoos?" Avi guessed.

"Think bigger. I control ink. On paper, tattoos, ink pens…" Gezzie trailed off while the teenage inventor's eyes lit up in wonder.

Avi rubbed his chin, considering the possibilities." It's so versatile! With the right training, it could be a real game changer in a fight." He observed. He was already thinking of weapons to create that could work to power her abilities and extend its limitations.

Gezzie shrugged, "That's why I'm here. I need better control over what I can do." She explained.

"I'm sure you'll get it. They've got some pretty good teachers here." Avi nodded, then perked up when he heard a bell.

"What was that? Classes aren't supposed to start until tomorrow, right?" Gezzie pulled out a rumpled schedule from the pocket of her pants and peered at it.

Avi pointed to the schedule, "There. It says initiation is before dorm rooms are assigned. I'm guessing that's important." Avi muttered. "We should go." He turned around and began to head inside.

Gezzie shoved her schedule back in her pocket, then followed him inside the building.

 **Luthor's Academy for the Gifted, Auditorium**

 **September 9th, 10:45 EST**

 **2021**

Carla O'Connell entered the noisy auditorium, gazing at the rows of seats that were already filled. Most students had gotten here early, but not Carla. She had been sitting on the bus to the Academy, reading a book on mythology, and accidentally forgot to get off at her stop. Carla was relieved to find that it hadn't started yet, and she hadn't come all the way from Maine for nothing.

Her light blue eyes swept the room, looking for an open spot to sit. It was pretty packed, but she finally found one.

"Excuse me." She muttered under her breath as she inched her way through a filled row to the nearest seat available. She finally made it and sat down. Part of Carla wanted to keep reading the book on mythology, but the other part knew the first-day ceremony would start soon.

"But where's the harm in getting a few more pages in?" Carla muttered to herself, pulling her book back out. She turned to a page corner she had folded down, and went back to being engrossed in the story.

She hadn't noticed, but she had sat down to a teenage boy who was a little younger, but a bit taller than she. His silver eyes studied her, the girl who had decided to sit next to him.

"What are you reading?" Raven, the boy Carla had sat next to, asked as he leaned over to look at the book's pages. He started reading part of the page off, "The Celtic gods knew no limitation of time or space…," He smirked.

Carla blinked in surprise; she hadn't noticed him. She chalked it up to her being so enticed by the book. "Do you always invade personal space?" She gestured to how close he was leaning to her.

"Nah. Only yours," he joked while grinning stupidly.

Carla stared at him for a quick minute before slowly scooting away in her seat, "Okay, well if you don't mind, I'm going to continue reading my very interesting book." She gave him another sideways glance, hoping that he would take the hint that she didn't want to start a conversation. She just wanted to be alone.

"I'm pretty sure the assembly's about to start." Raven commented, leaning back in his own chair.

"I think I have a few minutes." Carla replied, turning the page of the book. A thought had been bugging her for a little while and she glanced over to him, asking, "Do you think initiation will be tough?"

Carla was a druidess, but wasn't very proficient at using spells. Potions were more of the teen's forte, and she wanted to make sure she had the right ones on hand.

"Yeah, probably impossible. I bet none of us get in," Raven smiled to himself.

Carla craned her neck, gazing at all the students sitting around her. Most looked pretty young, but they were all dressed and prepared for battle like herself. "Maybe. I have a feeling we won't be that bad."

"The tests should be pretty rigorous, Luthor has been known to make them challenging." A voice said from Carla's right. She turned over to see a boy her age raising an eyebrow at her, and gasped. The boy next to her was massive; he stood more than a foot taller than her, looked to be in peak physical condition, and was pretty intimidating to Carla. He had short blonde hair, and almond shaped eyes that studied her.

"Do either of you boys know what minding your own business is?" Carla remarked, finally getting over being startled.

"You were talking loudly and I thought I could contribute to the topic." The blond boy shrugged.

"Are you a student?" Raven leaned over, interested in the newcomer.

"Yeah. My name's Jack. You?" He gave a polite smile, reaching out a hand. Carla shrunk back a bit, shooting glares at both of the boys. She sighed; all she wanted was to read her book and be alone.

"Name's Raven Arisato." He shook Jack's hand firmly, "Strong grip." He remarked.

"Muscles." Jack gestured to his appearance with a small smile, then he slouched back into his seat.

Carla decided to get the conversation back on track and find out more about the opening test, "So you say the initiation will be hard?" She raised an eyebrow.

"I suppose it will be tough…" He mused, scratching his chin. He grinned, "But it should also be a good fight." Jack often enjoyed a good battle, and was looking forward to seeing the conflict on the field.

"Fighting? So it's not… a written test or something?" Carla sighed; she would have rather preferred an academic test to something physical, but she supposed that was normal, as this was school for heroes after all. She wasn't exactly a fighter, more of a long range type of girl, so this slightly concerned her. But, of course, Carla kept her cool.

"Of course it's fighting. What did you expect, a math test or something?" Jack rolled his eyes.

Raven was deep in thought, drumming his fingers on the seat rest. "What exactly are we fighting?"

"Can't say." The older boy shook his head, "It could be a simulation, although Luthor is pretty secretive about it."

Raven raised an eyebrow, "You talk to Luthor?" He wondered aloud after snapping back to the real world. He wasn't the biggest fan of their president, Luthor did seem pretty shady, but so far he hadn't done anything too bad. And besides, he had opened up a Superhero Academy to train the new generation of young minds, and powers, so they don't turn out like the psychos in Belle Reve.

Jack shifted uncomfortably, "On… the occasion."

"Wait a minute." Carla turned to him, pursing her lips. Something about the boy seemed strangely familiar, like she had seen him before. Then it hit her. "Oh. Aren't you like, the poster boy for the academy?"

"Somewhat." Jack admitted, clearing his throat. "I work with him, but I wouldn't say… poster child."

"You're like one of those kids in the commercials who're always smiling and laughing." Raven commented with a chuckle, "Poster child." he repeated. Jack rolled his eyes at Raven and was about to dispute it, but paused as he saw the lights dim in the auditorium.

Carla turned her attention away from the students she just met, to a person who walked onto the stage. A young well-dressed man stepped out onto the stage as the audience clapped respectfully. He straightened his tie and his amber eyes studied the crowd as he stepped up to the podium. After the applause died down he cleared his throat before speaking.

"Welcome to Luthor's Academy for the Gifted," his clear and smooth voice rang out. "My name is Amun Rashid, and I am the principal. As you know today is initiation. There will be a test today to see which team you will be on and what your role will be." Some of the audience started to whisper to each other. Questions such as: 'What kind of tests?', and 'What teams?' floated through the air.

Continuing on, the young man informed them, "There are three teams, Alpha, Beta, and Omega. Alpha, of course, is the best students. Only 8 of you will be selected to be on the best team in the school. Beta would be second, but still a very good team. The majority of you will place there. Omega is the lowest team you can be on, hopefully we do not have to place anyone in Omega." His voice turned more serious, the words carrying through the auditorium and settling like a heavy mist. Glancing around he nodded, "There will be a time for questions later as well as more explanation when initiation will really start. Now, we will hear from two of our faculty members. First is Ms. LaRoux."

The young woman eagerly went to the podium as the young man stepped down. "Hello everyone. I'm Genevieve LaRoux. I'm the school medic and the professor for cooking, yes we have regular classes here too," she chuckled a bit before saying, "I will also teach first aid. I'm the teacher for the healers along with the teleporters too." A man, about 29 years old, sighed boredly, taking a surreptitious sip of the gin in his flask. Genevieve cast an annoyed look at him before continuing, "Anyways, here is my colleague, Mr. Harvard Jasper." She hissed, "Don't drink in front of the students," as she stepped down and let him go up. Harvard was caught rolling his eyes as he ambled up and gave the people gathered in the auditorium a once over.

"You can call me Harvard. I'll be training you brats in field work and combat," he informed, standing on stage in silence. Harvard raised an eyebrow, "What? Do you think I have anything more? Wrong." He grunted, getting off stage and back to his seat. Mr. Rashid gave Harvard a disapproving look, he hadn't hired the man to work as a professor. Amun disapproved of Harvard being a teacher here, but Lex Luthor had hired him personally and the principal couldn't go against that.

He stepped back to the podium, " I'll keep this brief. Only the most promising and talented students attend this school, and you all be very honored you were accepted. However, talent will only take you so far. Here, you must work for what you want. Fight for it. Seize it. Or you have a very slim chance of graduating, or even survival. You cannot slack off and expect to make it, you must rise to the challenge and defeat it. And you can't do that alone. " Amun's gaze swept the audience and Jack shifted uncomfortably in his seat. It felt like the principal could find out all your deepest secrets with a glance, like you couldn't hide anything from him. That was a scary thought. Jack shook his head, then focused back in on the speech.

"Now as you know, we value teamwork very much here. When you are assigned to your team, there are no changes. They are your colleagues, your friends, and your family for the rest of your time here. You will laugh with them, you will fight and argue with them, and they will go out into battle with you. You must learn to count and trust on each and everyone of your teammates." Amun waited for a moment, letting his words sink in with the students. Raven smiled in anticipation; the teen was looking forward to initiation and meeting his new team.

"Good Luck with the opening tests. I look forward to see what team you all place on." And with that, Amun Rashid turned from the podium and walked off the stage in a few, quick strides. The chatter in the room slowly started up again as the students discussed the speech.

Raven drummed his fingers on his armrest, considering the Principal's speech, "I hope we end up on a team together." He muttered to them.

"Me too." Carla sighed softly. Although she liked to be alone, she had to admit, it would be nice to work with people she actually knew instead of complete strangers.

Genevieve LaRoux appeared on stage in a bright flash, "Everyone, head out the auditorium doors and onto the football field. The instructors will be there momentarily." She commanded, then teleported away, probably to the football field.

"The football field?" Raven snorted as he stood up, stretching his back. "Why would it be out there?" He turned to Jack.

"Don't ask me. I'm in the same boat you are." He muttered with a shrug, standing up and stretching as well.

Raven sighed, unhappy with the lack of information, "Oh well. See you all there." He gave Carla and Jack a small smile, then disappeared suddenly.

Carla furrowed her brows, looking around the auditorium. "Where did he go?"

"Probably to the football field like we're supposed to," Jack gestured to the students filing out of the room."Come on."

Carla sighed, shoving her book on Celtic mythology in her backpack. Something in her gut told her that this wasn't going to be easy as she left the room with Jack.

 **Luthor's Academy for the Gifted, Football Field**

 **September 9th, 11:00 P.M. EST**

 **2021**

Travis White took a deep breath as he walked onto the football field, glancing at all the students surrounding him. He shifted uncomfortably as a young girl bumped into him,"E-excuse me. I'm so s-sorry." He murmured, biting his lip. Travis could literally feel the nervousness and excitement in the air, probably because of his powers. The empath's unseeing, pastel lavender eyes darted for side to side as he walked farther into the field with all the other students. "S-sorry. Pardon m-me," he mumbled as he made his way through the crowd, accidentally stepping on another boy's toes.

"Hey! Watch it!" The boy with spiky red hair, eyes to match, growled.

Travis winced at the voice directed at him, "Er, sorry. I-I didn't mean t-to, uh…- " He trailed off, waiting for the guy's name.

"Roman," the teen grunted before warning, "Just look where you're goin'." The boy's mouth, seemingly always set in a scowl, turned into a sneer.

"I-I, my name's T-Travis, Travis White," he bit his lip again as he informed, "I, uh, I can't quite look where I'm g-going." Travis waved a hand in front of his eyes as he said, "I'm blind."

"Fine. Whatever," Roman started to walk again before turning back to face Travis and tell the younger teen, "And stop all that st-stu-stuttering! It's annoying." He mocked before going into the crowd.

Travis curled into himself a bit. "Yea...I know," he whispered to himself before starting to move again.

"Hey, ignore him," a male voice told Travis, patting his shoulder.

"Wha-? Oh, uh, hi," Travis greeted the other teen.

The boy grinned and introduced himself, "My name's Raven. How about you?"

"T-Travis. My name i-is Travis," the 15 and half year old boy stuttered out nervously.

"Well nice to meet you," Raven mused, "C'mon. Let's go see what all this is about." He smiled a bit then stopped, "Oh, nevermind."

"Nevermind what?" Travis asked softly, stumbling into Raven. "Oh, s-sorry."

"It's alright," Raven chuckled as they got to the middle of the field with the other students.

Suddenly Amun Rashid's voice floated from the speakers, "Students, you must be wondering why you are all in costume, gathered in the football field."

Murmurs of agreement were heard throughout the field.

"Well now I'll inform you," he took a deep breath before explaining, "This is the test. Each of you will be judged and placed by how long you last. No maiming or killing is allowed. Everything else is fair game." There was a beat of silence. The students chatted amongst themselves a bit.

"What d-do you think h-he means by that?" Travis asked, confusion obvious in his voice. Before Raven had a chance to respond, the principal continued on.

"You may begin," the speaker squeaked a bit before cutting off.

The students stood there, glancing at each other in confusion. Then a loud sound was heard as large machines popped up from underneath the ground. The machines froze for a second, and Raven gave Travis a confused glance, then they began to fire.

"Everyone duck!" A female voice yelled out, tackling Travis before he could be hit. He covered his head, then looked up at a girl of Hispanic descent with short brown hair.

"W-what was that?" Travis gasped, ducking his head as something whizzed by. The girl rolled off of him and picked up the object, making a noise of disgust. "Rubber bullets. There are turrets shooting rubber bullets at us." She growled, her obsidian colored eyes sweeping the battle field.

"Erm… who are you?" Travis asked nervously, glancing at the turrets.

"Hold on-" The girl took a deep breath, closing her eyes. She squeezed the bullet in her palm, then her eyes flew open as she threw it towards the nearest turret. Upon contact, the whole machine exploded.

"Wh-what was that?" He cried out, wincing from the heat that rolled off of it.

"My power," The teen grinned. She tucked her short hair behind her ears, then offered a hand. "I'm Julia. You?"

"Travis." He mumbled, giving her a proper shake of the hand.

Raven appeared not too far away and laughed a bit as he dodged the bullets. "This is kinda fun isn't it?" He chuckled, turning into a shadow to dodge a bullet. Instead it hit another student who glared at Raven, who gave a sheepish look back.

Another student ran up beside him, analyzing the position of the turrets. "Stay back," Jack commanded, then clapped and emitted a shock wave that forced the bullets, along with some students, back. Raven gave a 'huh' of surprise as the bullets dropped, though the turrets didn't stop.

* * *

In the box in the stands Harvard, Genevieve, and Amun. Harvard was behind the controls of the turrets, smirking and sipping his gin.

"Don't you think we're going a little be hard on them?" Genevieve asked, wincing as she saw one student use another as a shield.

"No. I think I'm going too easy on them," Harvard grunted, pushing a button to make the bullets come out even faster.

Amun watched, amused, as some students were taken down by the bullets. "It's interesting, . Seeing how much potential is out there. Others," he looked disappointedly at the students who would most definitely be put in Omega, "Not so much. It's pitiful, but we are a school. Teaching them to not be so pitiful is our job."

Genevieve nodded at Amun's words, "Alright Mr. Rashid, if you say so."

Harvard snickered as a student tripped. The school nurses were around the field by the turrets, watching for any students who went down and stayed down, or those who just gave up.

"They should learn the difference between necessary risk and stupidity," Harvard grinned to himself, already thinking of rougher lesson plans for the students. Genevieve shook her head. Actually caring for the students, she was immensely worried for them, especially when they had Harvard as a teacher.

* * *

Back on the field, several students still remained. Julia and Jack were doing their best to dodge the bullets that were flying at them, and Carla was disabling the machines with harsh acids that melted the machinery, but it was getting tough.

"Do these bullets seem faster to you?" Carla called out to Julia, throwing a vial of acid onto a machine. Julia created another explosion, and with the acid it took out several more guns.

"Yeah." She gritted her teeth, grabbing another bullet off the ground again. She clenched her palm, then flung it across the field at another shooter, watching it explode with a smug but tired smile. "I can't do this for all of them." She called back to Carla.

A figure leapt past Julia, slicing a turret in half with a black whip. The girl had a purple, gothic lolita dress on as she used the weapons, but Julia noticed the whips weren't exactly solid.

"What are those?" Julia squinted at the girl's weapons.

"They're ink. From my tattoos." The girl jerked her head to her whips, and Julia noticed how fluid the weapons seemed to be." Watch out!" She yelled, shaping the whips into a small shield. Now the group of girls had cover.

"Who're you?" Julia raised an eyebrow, panting softly as she recharged from the extensive use of her abilities.

"My name's Gezzie." The girl's blue eyes narrowed in concentration as she struggled to keep her creation solid. "This test is… strange. For as many turrets as I destroy, more just keep popping up." She grunted, the shield wobbling a bit.

Julia scanned the field, biting the bottom of her lip, then her obsidian eyes widened in realization "That's it!" She cried, her creative mind already connecting the dots of the test.

"What's it?" Gezzie stared at her in confusion, gasping as the shield began to lose it's shape.

Julia shook her head, "That's the test. They're going to keep shooting until no one is left on the field. No one is going to win! They're seeing how long we can go without getting shot. Seeing how far we can go." Her eyes glimmered excitedly, gesturing to more turrets that were popping up.

"So we need to find some way to shut the whole thing down…" Gezzie trailed off, then her eyes lit up. "I got it!" She got up, her shield slipping back into whips, and sprinted across the field. She made a sharp turn, heading towards the bleachers. "Avi!" She cried. The boy Gezzie had met in the courtyard poked his head out from behind the bleachers. "What are you doing?" She pantted slightly.

"I can't fight! What am I supposed to do?" Avi looked at her incredulously, ducking as a bullet ricocheted off the bleachers.

"You're an inventor, right? You can build things." Gezzie pointed to the turrets. "Well we need you to build something to take out those guns."

"With what?" Avi threw his hands up.

Roman was nearby, and he overheard Gezzie's command. He glared at Avi, "Think of something! You're supposed to be an inventor, be creative and make something to take these damn things out!"

"Stay calm!" Carla, who was currently trying to figure out what potion to use, sprinted over to the group. "Hold on." She mumbled, then stretched her hands out and closed her eyes.

The ground rumbled, and thick sprouts began to pop up, weaving together until they formed a thick wall. "I saw a generator over there." She jerked her head to a large machine quite a distance away.

"Avi. You have to get over there and shut it down." Gezzie said quickly, relieved that they now had cover.

"We can cover for you." Julia added. She could tell he was debating it, but in the end, the young inventor finally relented as he got ready to make a run for it.

"Carla, Roman, and Julia, you all take out as many turrets as you can. Buy us some time. I'm going to shield him." Gezzie ordered.

Roman growled out, "Who the hell put you in charge?"

"Just dodge the bullets will you?" Carla huffed back, sweat forming on her brow as she made more vines pop up to protect them. Roman shot a glare at her, then went back to taking out machines

Julia nodded, "Got it." She picked up another bullet and threw it at a turret.

"Right," Avi sighed, glancing at Gezzie. She looked at the three who were blocking most of the bullets.

Carla nodded to them, "Go!"

They ran across the field quickly. Gezzie whipping away the bullets raining down on them. "Almost there," she grunted, narrowing her eyes at the generator.

* * *

Back up In the announcer's box, Harvard smirked. "Heh. I see what the students are doing. Pretty smart." He pressed a button, making the bullets increase in speed and force. "Finding the source while the others cover you. Now there's a good strategy."

Genevieve watched the teens, chewing her bottom lip as she watch them race across the field. Her eyes darted back and forth between the teens left on the field.

Amun watched with a impassive face as the students worked. "Yes. They do have great potential. All we have to do is help it grow." He nodded, watching Jack in particular, how he helped the other teens. His eyes darted to Gezzie, who had taken control of the situation easily and calmly, "Yes. We've received quite a bit of potential."

* * *

Back on the field, Travis was still dodging the bullets. He was surprised he had lasted so long to be. He felt the multitude of feelings, trying to pinpoint the ones on the field, as there were only eight people left. At first he hid behind the bleachers and sparked a strange camaraderie with Avi before he had to go to the group that called him out. Deciding to against his pacifistic nature, Travis had decided to run right out into the field as he could tell the other 7 students were drawing the fire of the guns. Though, that proved to be a problem as he had moved a bit and was now totally unaware where the group was and was stranded in the field. He stood, pretty much unnoticed and defenseless. Suddenly he felt a shock wave and flailed a bit, hearing some of the bullets drop to the ground though the shooting started up again soon. He turned around, coming face to face with Jack Arsenault.

"Hey, you okay?" The teen asked, offering a hand to Travis.

He nodded quickly, "Uh, y-yeah. Who are y-you?"

Roman heard Travis and shot him a glare, "Hey! I thought I said to stop stuttering. It's annoying, and making me lose my focus!"

"S-s-sorry," Travis apologized softly.

Jack frowned and called back, "Just keep covering Gezzie and Avi!"

"First that girl bosses me around then a poster boy?!" Roman snarled, blowing more of the bullets up. "Why don't you cover those two?!"

Jack ignored Roman and lead Travis to the group. "Ignore him. How immature." He scoffed. As they got behind the wall Carla had constructed, Jack introduced everyone. "I'm Jack. The two streaking to the generator are Gezzie and Avi. You probably already know Roman. Carla is the one holding the wall. Julia is the girl throwing the bullets she's made into explosives. Ra-"

"And you know me." Raven grinned as he appeared out of Jack's shadow, waving to Travis.

"Quiet down, will you? I'm trying to keep this wall up," Carla grunted. "Creating my spells is already hard enough, controlling them is another story.

Travis nodded, quietly telling them, "My n-name is Travis."

"Hello." Julia waved, then heard an explosion as Gezzie sliced through another machine. "We should get back to helping them out." She muttered, and Carla nodded in agreement.

"Stick to the plan and cover for them, we have to make sure they disable the system." The druidess confirmed, and then the group leapt into attack.

Back with Avi and Gezzie, they had arrived at the generator. "Okay, okay. Circuit board," Avi mumbled, looking around the generator.

"Hurry Avi. The others are struggling out there!" Gezzie informed, glancing at the group of teens standing almost back-to-back as they drew the gun's fire.

"Don't rush me," Avi huffed back, stress was clear in his voice. "Ah-ha! Found it...do you have a screwdriver or-..." He trailed off, gesturing to the panel hiding the circuit board.

Gezzie created a ink screwdriver, solidifying it. "This good?" She asked, handing it to him.

"It'll have to be," Avi sighed, undoing the screws and putting the panel to the side.

Then, around the generator turrets began to sprout up. They surrounded the machine, pushing Avi away and aiming at the two teens. "What the-?!" Avi exclaimed, stumbling backwards. "No..oh no," he groaned as the turrets whirled to life.

"Ugh! More of them? Really?" Gezzie growled under her breath, forming an ink whip. The turrets started to fire and Gezzie put Avi behind her, slapping away the bullets. "Okay. I'll hold them off and you turn the generator off."

"How can you hold them off? There are," Avi counted them mentally, "Four of them, firing two bullets at a time! How can I even get around them?"

"Just trust me on this," Gezzie grunted with mild annoyance. She made the whip into small shields, moving them quickly to block the bullets.

Avi nodded shakily. "Okay. You're the hero," he mumbled, starting to move forward. His eyes widened as he realized what Gezzie planned. "Oh...oh that's smart." The shields became almost the size of the bullets as they split and covered Avi as well as he made his way back to the generator.

Quickly going to the revealed circuit board Avi mumbled to himself, "C'mon Avi. You can do this. Just think, which wire...or maybe it's wires?...Oh gosh. I haven't worked with this kind of thing." He panicked a bit. Glancing at the group he winced as they seemed to be tiring, especially Carla as she struggled to keep the wall of vines up.

Though, of the people of the group, Roman seemed to be the least tired, or the most stubborn, staying on his feet as he blocked and destroyed the rain of the bullets trained on them with his powers. Looking back at Gezzie he felt a bit guilty for not being 'as useful' when he saw her movements getting slower, knowing she was getting tired from using her powers so much. He looked back to the circuit board.

"C'mon. Think...think. Everyone is depending on you to stop this." Looking back at Gezzie he called, "Do you think you can make something sharp, to cut the wires?" The teen nodded, though it was obvious she was struggling, making one of the shields by Avi solid and sharper. Avi looked at the wires. "There!" He exclaimed with a grin, cutting the right ones. The turrets whined, powering down as they fell back into the ground.

Raven let out a loud cry of excitement "Yes! Let's hear it for the team!" as he ran over, almost pulling Avi into a hug. The others went over to Avi and Gezzie, as well, a bit slower though as she was tried from the hard battle.

"Guess you weren't too bad," Roman admitted, his scowl slightly softening as he realized they had won.

Carla nodded, letting out a tired, "Good job."

"You all did great," Jack gave a small smile at everyone and Gezzie let out a short sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness it's finally over," she muttered, her ink wrapping back around her arms as she plopped onto the ground. Following Gezzie's lead Avi and Raven plopped down too. Carla followed soon after, though a little more gracefully. Jack chuckled as he sat down, Travis sitting next to him. Julia sighed heavily, laying on the ground next to Gezzie. Roman rolled his eyes, deciding to sit as well. He was pretty tired, though would never admit it to their team.

"Good job remaining students," Amun's voice came over through the speaker, and slow clapping could be heard. "Everyone will have an hour of rest before dorm and team assignments are posted. They will be up in the cafeteria. Good work." The speaker squeaked slightly as it cut out, signalling the Principal didn't have anything else to say about the performance.

 **Luthor's Academy for the Gifted, Cafeteria**

 **September 9th, 12:30 A.M. EST**

 **2021**

The cafeteria was crowded as people gathered around the bulletin board with the team and dorm assignments. The whole place was filled with noise, some people were complaining about how they weren't prepared, others commenting on how, 'I should've been on team Alpha!' and 'There should be a re-do test'.

Travis sighed at the emotions that were floating around. He took a deep breath and asked Jack softly, who was standing beside him as they tried to make their way to the bulletin board, "Do you think we made it on team Alpha?"

"Yea. Proba-" Jack was cut off as Raven came behind them, slinging an arm around Travis' shoulders with a grin.

"Uh, duh!" The black haired teen chuckled. "We were awesome, and the last ones standing!" He gloated loudly, causing other students around them to turn to glare as they grumbled about how it wasn't fair.

"Shut up and move," Roman's voice boomed as he forced his way to the bulletin board. He smirked, revealing in a small moment of triumph, as he saw his name under 'Team Alpha'. Though it soon faded as he let out a noise of confusion and disgruntlement.

"Looks like the stutterer made it too, even though he barely did anything." He shot Travis a mean look, taking the tab that had his name, the floor he was on in the dorm, and his room number.

"You deserve to be an Alpha as much as we do," Raven assured Travis, patting his shoulder. The healer hadn't done much in the battle because his powers were medically based, but he had tried to assist the others as much as possible.

Travis nodded, letting out a small, "If you say so." Jack took the tabs for the three of them, giving them to their respective owners.

"Looks like boys are on one side, girls are on the other," the tall teen hummed, looking over some of the girls' tabs.

Raven grinned as he looked at his tab and then the two boys' beside him. "Look! We're neighbors!" Travis smiled slightly as he nodded.

"So, you two can show me where my room is?" The blind teen asked, stuffing the paper into his pocket.

"Of course," Jack hummed, nodding as he put the tab in his pocket.

Carla made her way through the crowd calmly. She let a small grin paint her features as she saw she'd made it on team Alpha. Taking the tab with her name she looked at the three boys.

"Guess we're gonna be a team now," Gezzie remarked as she tore off her tab too.

Julia tore off her tab as she huffed, "Well no wonder. We were great and lasted longest."

"Well, I mostly hid except for the last part," Avi chimed as he tore off his tab too.

Travis spoke up, saying with in a quiet voice, "I hid for the most part. So, I know I'm only a healer, but...I'll try my best to contribute to the team."

"Dude...that was touching," Raven's silver eyes glimmered with mock-pride. Though, they turned a bit serious as he told the group, "I too, will try my best to contribute to the team in any way I can."

Jack nodded in agreement, "I will too."

"Me four," Gezzie smiled a bit, putting her tab in her pocket.

"Most definitely," Avi hummed, pushing up his glasses.

Jack nodded while Julia agreed as well with a stern, "Of course."

"Obviously," Carla drawled, fiddling with her Celtic knot necklace a bit. A silence fell over the group as they noticed they'd been pushed away by the crowd of people who were eagerly trying to see where they were place, save for a few people standing or sitting around, waiting for the crowd to dissipate.

Raven broke the silence, "Well, let's go to the dorms and settle in!" The others agreed and they walked across the campus to the round building that contained their rooms, excited for what would await them the next day.

 **Very long and IMPORTANT AN:**

1\. Wow! The first chapter is out, and it only took us a week. That was a crazy chapter. This was a super, super long chapter(17 pages in google docs) but don't get comfortable. We are going to try and update every 2 weeks, give or take a few days in between. These chapters will be long. We are no longer taking any heroes, we have all that we need. But we are taking villains! PM us for the villain sheet!

2\. You may have noticed that the 8 OCs that debuted this chapter are the Alpha team. We have decided to split the characters we receivers into two teams, and next chapter, the Beta team will debut.

Unfortunately, we cannot focus on the Beta team as much as the Alpha, but they will play a role in this story. We have considered creating a spin off series for the Beta team, give us your thoughts below. This is a tentative idea, and we would love to have our readers help out with it.

3\. Another thing we must address is participation. We, the writers, have put our time into creating this story and we need some sort of feedback or confirmation that you are reading it. It's not fair to others if you don't read it or give us feedback on how your character is being portrayed.

Not going to lie, this was a tough chapter to write. We were introducing 8 new people and writing them for the very first time. There's going to be a learning curve these next few chapters as we get the hang of it, so bear with us.

4\. We have questions for the creators of the characters we've received. These are mandatory, and pertain to the next chapter. We need you to answer.

If you have any concerns, questions, or feedback about your characters, please message us. It makes it easier if you PM us that instead of review it.

 **Questions:**

 **What does your OC normally eat and drink for breakfast? And what is their favorite ice cream flavor?**

 **Who would you like your to OC become friends and enemies with on the Alpha team?**

 **Do you want your character to have a scene with anyone else on the team? If so, what?**

 **Would your OC get along with Genevieve or Harvard more?**

Anyways, hope you liked the chapter~! Please tell us how we did! In a few chapters there will be polls up soon on our account to vote for team leader, who will be field members, who will be the technologist/mechanic, who will be the medic, and who will be the strategist. People can hold multiple roles, but we do want to see the whole team doing at least one thing!

Thanks for reading~

The Fangirls


	4. S1, Episode 4: Ice Cream and Assassins

**How Far We've Fallen**

 **.x.x.x.x.x**

 **Season 1, Episode 4**

 ** _~The YoungJusticeFangirls~_**

 **The Academy, Alpha Team Dorms**

 **September 10, 9:30 A.M. EST**

 **2021**

Travis sat on a chair at the long table in the kitchen, tapping the side of his water glass nervously. The Alpha team was having breakfast together, per suggestion from Avi, but no one was speaking. He closed his eyes and sensed the feelings of everyone in the room; nervousness, boredom, and...annoyance that stemmed mostly from Roman. It seemed that all day they were mostly sitting awkwardly or boredly as nobody really wanted to start conversation, except for Avi and Raven.

Carla sat on the couch and seemed to be engrossed in a book she was reading, taking sips of her glass apple juice. Her empty plate, save for a few crumbs, was in the sink. At the table Roman grumpily ate a slice of bacon, staring out the window in their kitchen that overlooked the courtyard.

* * *

The team had entered their dorm yesterday to find a high tech, modern, and a tastefully decorated space. Each team had their own floor of the building, and every teammate had their own bedroom and small bathroom. In the center of two of the boy's dorms sat a long table that seated at least 10 people, a bit snug, but they would fit. The kitchen and laundry rooms were on either side of the entrance, and the entire team was around the long dining table in the middle of the room.

Jack was used to Lex Luthor's expensive tastes, but the others had spent a long 5 minutes, simply admiring the entryway of the dorm alone, far longer for the rest of the large area that was now their home.

Immediately afterwards, everyone had rushed to their bedrooms to get settled in. But no matter how hard Avi or Raven tried to get to know the others, they simply weren't interested in talking. Roman had been so abrasive to everyone else, especially Travis, that Avi hadn't even tried to make conversation with him yet.

"So…" Raven trailed off, trying to make conversation. "How's everybody feelin' this fine morning?"

Roman grunted, moving onto the scrambled eggs on his plate. He grabbed another few pieces of sausage. Looking up from her book on Druidic magic, Carla glanced once at Roman's choice of breakfast, and replied shortly, "I'm fine."

She went back to reading, and an uncomfortable silence settled over the group as everyone ate their meals.

"I'm doing well," Jack remarked impassively as he wolfed down a feast of bacon, eggs, and sausage, "How about you?"

"Peachy," Raven huffed, resting his chin on the counter as he took a big bite of his apple.

Travis stuttered out quietly , "I-I'm pretty good, t-too."

"I'm feeling well," Gezie told the group, finishing up a pastry and taking a sip of some juice. Silence fell yet again over the group of teens, boredom and awkwardness thick in the air. She stretched her arm a bit, and winced.

"Is anyone else a bit sore from that test yesterday?"

"I know I am." Carla muttered, rubbing out a knot in her shoulder. "I got hit by a few of those bullets pretty hard."

"O-oh." Travis mumbled, a small blush rising to his pale cheeks, "Would you-you like me to h-help with th-that?"

Carla raised an eyebrow, internally debating with herself. She eventually pulled up the sleeve of her dark purple blouse, revealing quite a large bruise.

Travis touched a finger to it, and she winced slightly, but it soon disappeared completely from her skin.

"Huh. That's… really something," Carla remarked, gingerly poking at the spot. She was relieved to find that it was entirely gone.

Julia looked up from her drawing, "So you're a healer?" She wondered as she sketched the apple Raven was eating, the dark-haired boy watching her skeptically.

"Somewhat. I-I use my own bio-energy to heal and replenish other's energy.." Travis nodded, blushing slightly. "An-and I can f-feel em-emotions."

"So you'll be in the empath class then?" Raven questioned, lifting his head from the smooth wooden table ever so slightly.

Travis nodded again, "Ye-yeah, that's right."

"That's neat." Roman drawled out of boredom, "Don't see how that's very useful in a fight." He snorted.

Carla rolled her eyes, "Think of it this way. Every time Julia or I punch you in the face for saying something stupid like that, Travis will be around to heal you. Then you'll be thankful for him." She shot back at him.

"Travis, you'd better get ready. I'm about to break Roman's nose." Julia laughed, giving the druidess a large smile. Raven snickered lightly, grinning at them both.

Roman scowled at Carla before turning to Julia, "I'm almost a head taller than you. I'm not even sure you're tall enough to reach my face."

"I can make you explode." She smirked, gripping her pencil tightly.

Gezie knew that look from initiation day, and quickly interceded. "Hey. You three, cool it." She glared at the hostile trio, Julia especially. She knew the girl was competitive and Gezie wanted to stop that spark before it became a fire, a game of who could kill each other faster.

"Might be a little hard. They're both too hot headed." Raven smirked, studying and picking at his nails, "And with their powers? That's almost impossible."

"Shut it!" Roman growled at Raven, clenching his knife and fork a little tighter.

Jack sighed and rolled his eyes, "C'mon guys. We're a team. We shouldn't be fighting we should be-"

"Bonding!" Raven finished, taking a sip of his black coffee.

Carla snorted at his choice of drink, rolling her eyes."Do you really need that? I mean, you're hyper enough, even without the caffeine."

"Not hyper. I'm just more fun than you." Raven mocked her, pouting, "Sorry not sorry."

Avi rolled his eyes at their bickering, then nodded in agreement, "I agree with Raven's first statement. We should get to know each other more than we should be fighting each other. I mean... come on, guys."

"Team bonding? What are we going to do, sit around, hold hands, and tell our life stories?" Carla scoffed, shaking her head.

"I ho-hope n-not. Tha-that would be qu-quite the tale," Travis stuttered quietly under his breath, taking a small nibble of his rice cake. Because he was gluten and lactose intolerant, so he was pretty much forced to have a small rice cake, as he wasn't much of a breakfast person.

"How about…" Gezie pursed her lips, trying to come up with a solution. "We could get Ice cream?"

"Ay! Ice cream!" Raven shouted with glee. Travis' smile widened slightly at Raven's enthusiasm, but frowned when he heard the choice Gezie had selected.

"I'm la-lactose i-in-intolerant…" He gulped, his voice barely a whisper.

"What was that?" Roman stared at him incredulously.

"I-I… c-can't have dairy products." Travis winced, feeling Roman's emotions. He couldn't see the boy's expression since he was blind, but he could feel the annoyance radiating off of him.

"S-sorry...we c-can st-still go out for it?" He suggested, putting a smile back on his face.

Roman barked out, "Are you asking us or telling us?"

"Chill Roman. You'd think that you were the emperor," Raven said in a joking tone, though he gave a warning look to Roman. It clearly said, 'Back off.'

Roman huffed and slouched in his chair, "Don't tell me what to do."

Jack frowned and said in a calming voice, "Please don't fight." He turned his head to Gezie, "That's a great idea, Travis," looking at the younger teen he asked, "You sure it'd be okay to still go get ice cream?"

Travis nodded, putting a thumb up.

"If you say so," Julia shrugged, shooting a glare at Roman as he stood up from his spot, asking, "Does he have to come?"

"It's team bonding." Gezie said quietly but firmly, "You heard the principal. If we want to graduate, we have to work together."

"She's got a point." Jack nodded to her, and she gave him an appreciative smile. Avi nodded as well, "Yeah."

Julia grumbled under her breath, "Fine, but if he says one more mean thing. One. More. I will seriously hurt him."

"Doubt you could shorty," Roman retorted, sneering as he put his plate in the sink.

"Oh that is it!" Julia went to tackle him, but Raven held her back. Travis shrunk back, trying to stay out of it as much as possible. Carla glared at them from behind her book, rolling her eyes, then going back to the text.

Raven sighed as heavily and dramatically as he could, "As much as I would like to see this fight, we're supposed to be bonding and I really wanna survive… plus, ice cream."

Julia huffed and shrugged Raven off with a, "Fine! Get off of me!" Carla them watched, a bit amused at the scene, but quickly hid her small smile with her book, "You two are idiots." She mumbled under her breath. Travis swung his legs a bit, his head angled downward, though his smile was everpresent.

"Okay then! We're getting ice cream!" Raven announced as he grinned widely.

Jack chuckled at Raven's cheer, "We still need to get ready for the day, and we just ate breakfast."

"I'm a black hole of food," Raven explained in a 'sophisticated' and serious voice.

"Uh-huh. Not so sure that's a good thing," Gezie snickered, covering her mouth. Travis let out a small laugh, though quickly put it out in case anyone pointed it out.

Julia grinned at Gezie, "I agree. Totally and utterly."

"Me too," Carla nodded, deciding at least try to mingle as most of the others were. Suddenly, the team stopped chatting as they heard a soft knock at the front door to the boy's side.

"I'll get it." Jack sighed, rising to his feet and striding over to the entry. He opened the expensive oak door and came face to face with a young French woman, her light brown hair cascading down in soft curls.

"Ms. LaRoux?" Jack raised an eyebrow, confused as to why the Academy's medic was standing on their doorstep.

"Hello! How is everything going?" Genevieve smiled brightly at him, then craned her neck to peer at the students sitting at the kitchen table. She sighed, a bit relieved.

"Oh thank goodness... They haven't killed each other yet." A slim smile spread onto her lips. Jack let out a small laugh.

"It's going fine Ms. LaRoux." He looked back into the room and nodded, "Thank goodness. There were a few attempts here and there, but no actual killing."

"And that's why you're all on team Alpha. Because we can trust you all not to hurt each other." Genevieve said purposefully louder, just so the others could hear. Julia gave Roman a wry smile, and he cracked his knuckles.

"Yes, everything is great." Jack chuckled quietly, covering for Roman and Julia.

"Anyways, I just came to check in and see how you're all doing." The medic gave them all a small wave, tucking a curl behind her ear. Her eyes lit up as she suddenly remembered something, "Oh! Travis?"

He turned her way, his eyes widening in surprise."Y-yes?"

"You have a visitor. She was here a moment ago…" The woman frowned, looking up and down the hall for someone." Hold on." She held up a finger, then disappeared in a flash of light. Genevieve teleported back with a little girl at her side.

"I believe… she's Mr. White's younger sister?" Genevieve told them, though it came out more like a question.

The nine year old ran to Travis and hugged him tightly. "Travis!" She yelled as she tackled him.

"H-hey Cat," Travis greeted quietly, his smile becoming wider. Jack smiled, his eyes softening at the sight.

He turned to Genevieve and nodded, "Not to seem rude, but is that all Ms. LaRoux?"

Genevieve nodded and gave a slight smile, "Yes. Just wanted to check up on the teams and let Mr. White's sister see her brother. I'll see you tomorrow at class." She disappeared in a flash of light.

"Alright," Jack closed the door and turned to the siblings. "Would you like to introduce your little sister Travis?" He asked with a slight smile. Catori gaped up at him as a slight blush came to her cheeks.

"I think I'm in love," she whispered to Travis.

Travis sat up, setting Catori up right before getting up himself. "O-oh, right," he cleared his throat and started to introduce her, but Catori interrupted, still gawking at Jack.

"I'm Catori, but you can call me Cat," she informed, trying to do a flirty voice. "I'm nine, but I'm the most mature one in my class. It's full of nitwits."

Raven gasped with laughter, almost falling off his seat. "Your little sister is really funny Travis," he wheezed.

Calming down a bit he said to Catori, "My name's Raven." Jack let out a small chuckle before going over to the two. He went on one knee and shook the little girl's hand as he told her, "I'm Jack."

Catori grinned widely as Jack stood again.

"Travis...Travis he held my hand." She hissed, though it was loud enough Jack could hear.

Gezie introduced herself as well, smiling at the adorable little girl. Avi looked up from one of his inventions he was tinkering with and gave a small wave.

"Julia," the obsidian eyed girl hummed, giving a warm grin to Catori. She jabbed a thumb to where Carla was sitting, "The book worm is Carla and the grump over there," her index finger pointed to where Roman was sitting, "Is Roman."

"You blind too? Or you got a st-stu-stutter?" Roman grunted bluntly at Catori, leaning against the a wall and crossing his arms. Catori scowled at the older boy. "Are the rest of your family idiots too?" Catori said smartly.

"They probably are." Carla snorted, the corners of her lips turning up as she saw a muscle in Roman's cheek twitch.

"Why you lil-" Roman was cut off as Jack rested a hand on his shoulder and gave him a disapproving look.

"She's just a kid, Roman" Jack chastised with a frown. Roman shrugged off his hand and grumbled.

"Wasn't gonna hit her, just yell at her a bit."

"You shouldn't do either," Gezie huffed, frowning at him.

Roman was about to reply with another rude comment when Raven interrupted in a whiney voice, "Can we go for ice cream now?" Jack sighed and shrugged.

Looking around the room he asked, "You guys wanna go now?" He looked down at himself, noticing he was still in his pajamas, before rephrasing, "You want to go after we get ready for the day?"

Raven cheered and ran to his room to get ready quickly. Roman let out a grunt of, "Whatever," before going to change. Julia, Gezie, and Avi nodded and headed to their rooms. Catori stayed with Travis as he was already ready. Jack smiled at the two before going to his room.

A few minutes later everyone reappeared in the main room.

"We all good?" Jack asked, putting his hands in his pockets.

"Yes, Can we go now?" Raven begged.

Jack grinned at him and nodded, "Of course."

"Catori…." Travis frowned, trying to figure out where his sister should go. "Why don't you stay in here?"

"No way." She snorted, gesturing to the building. "I'm gonna go explore! And bother that Genevieve lady. She's too… proper." The little girl shuddered, then sprinted to the door.

"Don't annoy her too much." Carla warned, giving Travis a quizzical glance as Catori danced out the door, "What was that? Did you smuggle your little sister in or something?"

"Not-not exactly…" His voice was barely a whisper as heat rose to his cheeks.

"What?" Roman barked, after he didn't answer quick enough, he snapped, "Are you mute too?"

"Th-the Luthor foundation… took us in when our parents di-died. S-so now th-that I've decided to attend the Academy, she has to s-stay here too." Travis winced slightly at the thought of his parents. His childhood had not been a pleasant one, and he would rather not think of it.

"So I'll be sharing a dorm room with a toddler?" Carla drawled, narrowing her eyes at him. Children were annoying and bothersome, and having one in her dorm room didn't seem like a fun time.

"Well… She-she's not a tod-toddler… but... yes." He mumbled.

"That's okay, Travis. We can manage." Gezie said quickly, interceding before more conflict could arise.

"Ice Cream?" Raven perked up hopefully. Julia grinned, she opened the door of the dorm, then motioned for the team to hurry up.

The group went out the dorm, and started to head out to the gates of the school to a nearby ice cream parlor.

"Hey!" A male voice called out, "Aren't you the Alpha team?" The group turned to the voice to see another group, presumably the Beta team.

Jack nodded, "Yea. You the Beta team?"

"You got it," A red-headed girl hummed. The two teams approached each other, meeting in the middle of the court yard.

"I guess introductions are in order?" Gezie suggested, her lips quirking up slightly.

"Anthony Romano, I'm Knuckle Duster," the boy who called to them huffed impatiently.

The redhead nodded, smiling widely, "I'm Phoebe Phantom, other wise known as Phoenix. Pleased to meet you."

Gezie hummed, "Nice to meet you too."

"Kian Collins, I don't really have a code name," a stocky boy muttered. "I'm still figuring that part out."

Next went a boy with shoulder length hazel hair, "David Porter, aspiring artist, a.k.a. Glassware." He grinned a bit crazily, unsettling Gezie.

Julia smiled a bit, "Ah. Finally a fellow artist!" She chuckled. Phoebe pushed Ana and Jace to the front. "These two still need to introduce themselves," she smiled. Ana looked at Jace and said, "You go first." She went back to her phone, where she was working on an investigation. She was balancing it with school, though it was just for a story, and stories that could take less time. It was going to be difficult, but she still did it to pay her sister's hospital bills.

Jace glared at Ana and scoffed angrily, before introducing herself, "My name's Jacelyn Karlstone, or Rebirth... call me Jace." Ana glanced up as Jace finished talking, turning off her phone. As she slipped it into her pocket she recalled the fake name she'd given the school.

"Ana Holmes, also known as Quiver."

"I didn't know your last name was Holmes…" Jace looked up at Ana curiously. The two teams stood in silence for a bit after that before Raven snapped his fingers.

"Hey! You guys wanna get pizza and ice cream with us?"

Phoebe nodded rapidly, "Let's do it! C'mon guys, please?" She asked, turning to her group. In reply she got shrugs and a few 'Why not?'s.

"Alright! Let's do it!" Phoebe pumped her fist in the air. Jack smiled, leading the group down the street to the pizza parlor.

Raven pursed his lips before asking, "So...what'd you think of the test?"

"It was BS!" Anthony grumbled.

"Shut up," Ana snapped, fixing her scrunchie for probably the hundredth time that morning.

Anthony growled, "Why you bit-"

"Anthony is kinda like Roman. Tall, all brawn no brain, delinquent, short tempered," Raven mused. Roman snarled at Raven, "You little brat, don't-"

"Roman!" Jack called back in a warning voice. Roman mumbled profanities under his breath, but didn't pick a fight. Anthony rolled his eyes as they walked. In the back of the group, Avi glanced at Ana before asking, "So...what powers you got?"

"I don't have any," Ana lied smoothly, though she denied to herself she didn't have powers too. Figuring she should socialize a bit if she wanted a better story on the school, extra, it's students, she asked, "How about you?"

"I don't have any either. I'm just a mechanic," Avi sighed, shoulders hunching a bit. He considered himself useless, and she could tell. Ana frowned, biting her lip she reached out to pat the boy's shoulder, though decided not to and put her hand in her pocket. Ana cleared her throat a bit, "Ah, well, maybe it doesn't help coming from close to a complete stranger but...I think you're pretty important. I mean, you invent the important things your team needs and will need in the future."

"Thanks," Avi nodded with a small smile. "How about you? What do you do?"

"I-uh...I gather information," Ana told him. That part was true, of course. The whole reason she was here at the Academy was to gather information.

Avi was about to ask more when Raven and Phoebe announced in sing song voice, "We're here~!"

Most of the team members were laughing as they entered the parlor, they were getting to know each other pretty well and some of them quickly were becoming friends.

"Table for..." Jack quickly did a headcount, "Fourteen please." He told the waiter, who led them to a 'party table'.

The teams mingled in with each other, each of them grabbing a seat. Julia chatted with David about Sketching, painting and other crafty things while Raven and Phoebe immediately hit it off, joking and laughing.

Roman and Anthony were like oil and water at first, but soon they gained each other's respect.

The pizza parlor was filled with noise, mostly from Julia, David, Phoebe, and Raven, though Gezie contributed a bit.

The waiter came back to get what they wanted to drink, coming back quickly as the two teams were the only ones in there, save for several people scattered around. Avi glanced around the table, happy at all the socialization and bonding that seemed to be going on.

Jack and Gezie had sparked a conversation; Raven and Phoebe were chatting up a storm; Julia and David were discussing art; Anthony and Roman were sizing each other up, seeming to be in between mutual respect and threatened by the other boy's presence, Travis had disappeared somewhere when people weren't looking.

Carla was reading again as they patiently watched for the waiter to come back for their orders; Jace was playing with the sleeve of her shirt, nervously watching Ana, the only friend she'd been able to not scare off. Ana was on her phone, sipping her coffee once in a while, not noticing Jace's desperate stare.

Ana glanced up from the device in her hand and straight at Avi, who was trying to peer at the screen, but it was perfectly angled so only she could see it.

"You need something?" The seventeen year old drawled, turning her phone off quickly.

"Huh? Uh, just wondering what you were doing," Avi explained, trying not to seem creepy.

Ana raised an eyebrow, "You could've just asked me."

"Oh...so, what were you doing?" Avi asked, slightly embarrassed.

"Memes," Ana hummed, a wry grin on her face, then laughed quietly. "It was just an article that interested me."

"Ah." Avi quickly nodded, then took a sip of his drink.

Back at the other end of the table, Roman and Anthony were getting annoyed at the volume of the other's conversation, he was specifically annoyed at how loud Raven was.

"Raven. Shut up." Anthony growled, rolling his eyes.

Raven gasped dramatically, "Don't you like hearing my melodic voice though?"

Most of the table let out a chuckle at that, though Anthony and Roman didn't seem to find it humorous. Julia and David ignored the group, keeping up a conversation of great artists. Carla kept reading, though remarked dryly, "I don't think anyone wants to hear your voice."

Phoebe let out a snort, covering her mouth as she laughed loudly. "That's pure genius there!"

"Says the girl who snorts," Raven said in a mock-serious tone.

"Will you shut up?" Anthony growled down.

Jack frowned at the tone of voice, "Anthony calm down. Raven, please use your inside voice."

"What's an 'inside voice' Teacher Arsenault?" Raven cackled, high-fiving Phoebe.

Jace cracked a grin at that, but said nothing.

"Thank you, thank you very much," Raven stood and bowed.

Gezie rolled her eyes, "Sit down Raven, we aren't at the dorm anymore. This is a public restaurant."

"Aw c'mon. Loosen up a bit Gezie," Phoebe said in a joking manner. The waiter came over to them, interrupting whatever Gezie was going to say next. The huge group decided to order three large pizzas. One was half pepperoni, half cheese. The other was half spinach, half pineapple.

"Thank you," Jace murmured softly when they arrived at the table. The others echoed her only louder, save Anthony, Roman, and Ana. Taking a piece of pepperoni, Ana put her phone in her pocket. Raven had already started devouring a piece.

Just then Travis slid into his seat, hoping not to be noticed. But, of course, he was.

"Where've you been?" Raven questioned with a raised eyebrow.

Travis shifted uncomfortably, though he still had a small smile on, "U-uh. B-bathroom."

Raven shrugged, seemingly satisfied with the answer, then went back to munching on a slice of pizza.

Kian observed the teams quietly, happy they were getting along. He looked around the restaurant, chewing on his piece of spinach pizza. As he picked up his knife he narrowed his eyes at the image it revealed in the reflection. Behind him, a woman of about twenty was laying on her stomach on the building parallel from the pizza parlor, a gun aiming at a man in a nearby booth. "We got some company. Bad one," he informed the table quietly so the other patrons wouldn't hear.

Jack glanced at where Kian had looked with his knife. He lips turned down in a frown, "Assassin. We have to get her target out of here." He pointed out the man and his wife who were smiling as they chatted quietly.

"We won't need all of us to take down one person," Roman commented, "I call the assassin."

"Yeah. I'm feeling the need to burn off some energy with a fight," Anthony grunted.

Ana wiped off her glasses, "I'd much rather escort the mark and his wife than fight. So, I'll do that."

"Think I can help?" Avi asked, "I'm not really any help in the field."

"You are more help in the field than you think, but it's up to your team leaders," Ana hummed, gesturing to Jack and Gezie.

Gezie blinked in surprise, "Wha-? I'm not the team leader." She said, almost in sync with Jack.

"They aren't the team leaders," Roman growled, slamming his fist down on the table, not happy at the possibility of them being in charge.

Raven shook his head, "I disagree. I vote they a-""More pressing problems. Let's save a life," Julia declared, standing, earning a few odd looks from civilians.

Jace raised a hand, quietly saying, "Ana, Travis, Avi, and I can escort the man and his wife. I'm not too good at fighting, Travis can't see and..."

"Yeah, we got it kiddo." Jack smiled softly at her.

"It's settled then." Kian nodded. "Let's get to work."

* * *

Up on the building Danielle, or 'Elle', narrowed her eyes at the big group of teens. Reading some of their lips she groaned, "Great. My mark goes to the pizza parlor just when a group of heroes does. Lovely!" She went into the building she was on the roof on, changing into her civilian clothing, though her twin energy pistols and combat knives were hidden in her clothes. "Just have to kill him close range." Elle mumbled as she walked out the back way of the building and heading to the pizza parlor.

* * *

After Travis had insisted on paying the bill, saying it was his treat, the team headed out onto the street. He was a gentlemanly and kind boy at heart, practically the definition of chivalry.

The team and the couple they were escorting walked down the busy street, passing by Elle. David glanced at the woman, his eyes narrowing at a piece of metal peeking out of her pant leg.

Stopping he asked, "Excuse me, miss, but what is that?" The sixteen-year-old pointed at the metal. Elle stopped and sighed. Pulling it out swiftly she pointed it at David. "It's called a knife, hero," she hissed out.

"Finally! Some action!" Anthony smirked at her as he activated his powers, his fist turning into hardened carbon.

"Bring it." The corner of Elle's lips turned up in anticipation. David rushed at her then flailed as she pulled him into a headlock, pressing her knife to his throat.

"Oh no," David drawled, "Whatever shall I do?" Phoebe chuckled, "Is that sarcastic?" She asked goofily.

Raven snickered a bit, "I didn't know you were capable of that, dude." He grinned.

"Sarcasm?" David asked.

Phoebe nodded, "Yup." Jack rubbed the bridge of his nose as he thought, 'Why are they like this? Even in battle always cracking jokes.'

Elle narrowed her eyes at the three teens, "Shut up already! Just let me kill my mark and get my money." She spat, "Weren't there more of you brats?"

"Right here, lady!" A young voice called as a few more of the teens ran into the fray.

Anthony grinned eerily as he sprinted towards Elle in his usual style, "You're goin' down."

"Don't think so," Elle pushing David toward Anthony's fist, which was zooming up to meet his face.

"Stop!" David screeched, putting his hands over his face. Anthony scowled as he shifted to the left to avoid hitting David.

"Damn it." Anthony growled, skidding to a stop, several feet away.

Elle summoned what looked to be a blue flame of some sort of energy, and threw it at Roman. "Go play, brats. I have work to do." she insisted sternly. Roman, who was sweating from the slight physical exercise, grinned as he activated his powers and shot into the air like rocket, effectively avoiding the energy blast.

Raven popped out of the shadows of the alley, quickly throwing a punch at Elle, "Nah. This is more fun anyway!" He quipped.

She turned to face him, and grabbed his fist, throwing her own punch at his side, "Bye bye, little hero." She glared and swiped the knife towards his stomach. It grazed him, making the boy yell. Elle stepped back and wiped the blood off on her shirt, "See you brats later, though how 'bout… not." She left Raven, pushing him back and he fell to the pavement. Jack quickly hurried over to him and easily lifted Raven up, going back inside the group hastily located where Avi, Ana, Jace, Travis, and Carla were hidden with the man and his wife.

He walked down the alley until he heard hushed voices conversing in a storage room that connected to the pizza parlor, debating on whether or not to find a new hiding spot. He kicked open the metal door, and walked in on several startled teens.

"Travis! You're a healer right? We need you!" Jack yelled as he set Raven on the ground.

Travis, using his empathy, felt his way over to the long-haired boy, "What happened?" He asked worriedly.

"A knife cut his stomach, can you help him?" Jack answered with a sigh and desperate eyes.

Travis lifted Raven's shirt up to find a fairly deep gash, blood slowly trickling out.

"Don't think I've ever been attacked by an assassin before... This is a new one." Raven chuckled, though he winced in pain.

Jack breathed a sigh of relief, "Don't worry, you're fine." Looking at the group, Jack said, "Everyone, watch your backs, this happened because we didn't work together the way we should have. Next time, I really hope no one gets hurt, okay?" Jack said loudly, calling all of their attention, as the couple went to the cops who were just now arriving on the scene.

"Don't care," Roman grunted, leaning against a wall. Phoebe hit his arm and glared at him while others simply nodded, feeling like a bunch of kids who were punished by their parents. Roman glared back, "The hell's your problem?"

"Seriously?" She hissed at him.

Roman sneered, "If he died, he died. That would have been his fault."

Julia raised a fist, "You wanna die next? I'm sure we can arrange that."

"Calm down," Ana snapped.

Jack simply watched, interested, as Travis finished healing Raven.

The silver-eyed teen glanced at the rest of the team, who'd settled into silence, before asking, "So...can we get ice cream now?" This resulted in a few laughs, but the mood was dampened a bit. The team had still failed to apprehend Elle, and it bothered Raven a bit. He was a righteous person at heart, and he didn't like how someone else could be harmed because of their failure.

"Yeah. We'll go meet up with Anthony, Phoebe, and David, then can go for ice cream," Jack nodded with a stifled laugh, gesturing to an ice cream shop a few buildings away from them.

* * *

 **Metropolis, Coccilo's Ice Cream Shoppe**

 **September 10, 1:30 P.M. EST**

 **2021**

The large group entered the little ice cream shoppe that Jack had pointed out.

Seeing that there wasn't a big table for all of them to sit, they split up into smaller groups, sitting in booths close to each other. Jack opted to sit by Julia, David, and Jace. Gezie sitting with Avi, Ana, and Travis. Kian and Carla sat parallel from Raven and Phoebe, who already started to talk again. Roman and Anthony chose to sit opposite from each other, a bit separated from the others, but still close enough to hear Raven and Phoebe's loud conversations.

"Pipe down will you?" Roman growled at Raven and Phoebe.

"Naw. We're good," Phoebe grinned back. Raven high fived her as they starting talking about pranks. Julia and David had delved back into their conversation about artists, Jack chiming in once in awhile when they hit spots he knew about. Jace mostly stayed quiet.

Gezie was trying to strike up a conversation with Ana or Travis, but both either gave short replies or just a shake/nod of the head. Sighing she decided to just make small talk with Avi, who occasionally tried to encourage Ana and Travis to participate.

"So, what's your favourite...ice cream?" Avi asked. "Mine is cookies and cream."

"My favourite is either maple or death by chocolate," Gezie responded with a small smile.

Ana glanced at Avi, "I like cookie dough ice cream best."

"Me too," Jace commented, but her small voice was lost in the conversation, and Raven's loud comment that followed.

"Cookie dough?!" Raven called, going over to the four. "I love cookie dough ice cream!"

Ana hunched into herself, muttering, "Yeah. Cool."

Gezie patted Raven's shoulder, "Good to know. Go sit down now, you're disrupting the shop."

Raven pouted a bit as he shuffled back to his booth. "There, there," Phoebe said in a mock-sympathetic voice. Raven sighed loudly as he plopped back down. Kian and Carla shared a look and rolled their eyes at Raven's behaviour.

"Poor baby," Carla drawled sarcastically.

"I knew you'd understand!" Raven smiled, instantly brightening up as he grinned at Carla. The druidess just shook her head and went back to her book.

* * *

After getting their ice cream from the counter, the conversation settled down as the teens ate. Although they were eating, the booth of Raven, Phoebe, Carla, and Kian was pretty talkative, though it was mostly Raven and Phoebe. With Jack, Jace, Julia, and David, the two artists mostly discussed paintings and artists all over the world and throughout history. Jace thought about commenting about some old painting she saw when it was first added to a famous museum back in the 80's, but she kept her mouth shut, sadly remembering her old experiences were confidential.

Anthony and Roman ate in silence, giving the occasional glare to Raven and Phoebe when they got too loud. Avi cleared his throat then asked, "So does anyone know who that person was? The one who attacked us?"

The conversation around the table quieted down as the teens tried to search for an answer.

"I… don't know." Jack shook his head, his brows furrowing in concern.

Raven swirled his ice cream with his spoon, "Well whoever she is, she's a danger to others. We have to help."

"We know nothing about her. How can we do that?" Julia huffed, taking a quick bite of her treat.

"Well Ana is a journalist, right?" David shrugged. "She could probably find something."

Everyone turned to look at the journalist, and Ana paused as she ate her ice cream. "What?" She gave everyone a confused look.

"We need you to do some digging on that assassin," Kian asked seriously. "Did you get any pictures?"

"Well, I might have gotten a few…" Ana told them, glancing down at her camera. She hadn't gotten a few, she had gotten around 50 of them. During the quick skirmish, she had left her guard post and crept out to the alley way to record the team's fight with her camera.

"That's good." Carla nodded, glancing at the others. "We can start there. How about tomorrow, after class, we meet up in the library to do some digging?"

"Alright." Ana sighed begrudgingly, and Avi gave her a grateful smile.

Gezie pursed her lips, putting her spoon in her empty ice cream cup. Looking around it seemed most of the students were done and the conversations, save for Phoebe and Raven's, were winding down. Jack paid the bill again before saying, "Well, it seems that this day has gone fast." He pointed at the clock on the wall, which informed that it was 5:00 p.m.

"Wow," Raven's eyebrows shot up. "It's already 5 o'clock? That's so weird." Phoebe nodded in agreement, feeling tired from the busy day though.

Jack got up and slid out of the booth, "I think I'll head back to the dorms. After all, tomorrow will be an early day. We're getting our schedule for which classes we are have."

"I think I'm gonna go back to the dorms." Ana hummed, getting out of the booth. "It was...interesting meeting you all. See you tomorrow." She went out of the ice cream shoppe, her loose ringlets bouncing slightly as she walked. Jace followed her quickly, glad to be out of the crowd.

Soon everyone said their, 'See you tomorrows' and went back to their respective dorms.

* * *

 **A/N (Please read! Especially creators of characters): Hallo lovies~ Hope you liked this chapter! We worked very hard on it.**

 **So we know there was a lot of characters in this chapter, but this was all introductions and set up for more plot to come. We tried to make it run smoothly, but again, this one was perhaps even tougher to write than the last chapter. Remember, we still have the learning curve.**

 **As for answers, we are pretty happy. Most of our mains answered quickly, and we were able to get this chapter out a lot quicker than expected. If you didn't answer, you have until the posting of the sixth chapter to show us that you're on board. These questions are muy importante, or very important.**

 **We didn't include any of the scenes you talked about in your answers from last chapter. That will come later on, probably next chapter and the one after.**

 **How did y'all like the Beta team? Creators of the Beta team characters, please give your feedback on how they were written~ We'd really appreciate it so we can write them better! Again, remember, learning curve.**

 **Now for the Questions:**

 **From what you've seen so far, who do you think your OC would get along with best on the Beta team?**

 **Who do you want your character's best friend to be?**

 **What does your OC think of Catori?**

 **Do you see any relationships/friendships happening?**

 **~The Fangirls**

 **(P.S. Most of us are very sleep deprived, and this was written and beta'd a lot in the middle of the night, so we apologize for any grammar, spelling, or any other mistakes)**


	5. S1, Episode 5: First Day

**•**

 **How Far We've Fallen**

 **.x.x.x.x.x**

 **Season 1, Episode 5**

 ** _~The YoungJusticeFangirls~_**

* * *

 **The Academy, Algebra Class**

 **September 11, 8:30 A.M. EST**

 **2021**

Gezie sighed, putting her head on her hand. She slowly peeked up at the clock on the wall, then groaned softly when she saw what time it was. There was still 15 minutes of class left, and Gezie couldn't stand it.

"You alright there?" Carla drawled from next to her, tapping her fingers absentmindedly on the desk. She was bored with the class too, but wasn't really showing it. She had been taking notes on Algebraic equations half the time, but had gotten a brilliant idea for a potion in the middle of the math professor's lecture, and was now scribbling down ingredients.

"Do you think there's a kid who can manipulate time here?" Gezie gestured to the students around them, glancing at the clock again.

"Really? You're bored?" Raven peeked at her from his seat behind them, glancing at the pair of girls. "I love math!"

"Not me. I love anything but math." Gezie grumbled, playing with the tattoos on her arm.

"Math is pretty great, but biology and science are way better." Carla smiled a little, thinking of the class she had next. She was extremely excited for her science classes, and couldn't wait to get out Algebra.

"Come on…" Gezie sighed, tightening the ribbon that held back her blonde hair. Her thoughts trailed back to the fight with the assassin yesterday, replaying the events in her mind. The Alpha and Beta team hadn't told anyone about the battle, nor had they told anyone about Raven being injured. The teen had been angry that he was almost stabbed, and wanted to go after the woman who had done so, just so she couldn't hurt anyone else.

However righteous Raven's intentions were, Jack had insisted that they waited until the team was able to gather more information on the mysterious assailant. It simply wasn't safe to just dive into their investigation head first without any knowledge of what they were up against.

Avi had remembered Ana, who was on Beta Team, was a journalist, and had suggested they ask her to find out more about the young woman. The rest of the team agreed, and yesterday they had asked Ana to look into it a bit.

"Miss Leclerc? Are you still with us?" The professor interrupted Gezie's thoughts. The girl immediately sat up, startled, and looked around the room. Carla was giving her a strange look, and Raven was staring at her quizzically.

"Yeah… I'm still here. Sorry," A small blush spread across her lightly tanned face as she turned and whispered to Carla, "What page?"

"Thirty four," The druidess whispered back, pointing at the number on her page.

Gezie quickly flipped through her book, the professor giving her a disapproving look, then sighed with relief as the bell rang. She quickly gathered her things, shoving them into her backpack.

"What? Were you taking a nap in class?" Raven teased, giving Gezie a pointed glance.

The girl shifted uncomfortably, "Not quite. I was just deep in thought. Can we go to our next class?" She quickly pulled her backpack onto her shoulders, turning towards the classroom door. The professor sighed and nodded, "Class is dismissed. I expect you all to have page thirty four finished for tomorrow."

The rest of the class got up, packing their backpacks before flooding the corridors. As they got into the hall is was flooded with noise. Students talking about how awfully boring, difficult, weird, cool, and many other adjectives, a class was.

"Hey, how was algebra?" Jack greeted, stepping in sync with Gezie, Carla, and Raven.

"Horrible and boring," Gezie groaned, "We already have homework."

Raven grinned and said, "I think it was great. Very interesting!"

"It was alright," Carla shrugged, "But what I really can't wait for is biology and science."

Avi and Jack jogged up to them from their Math and English class, respectively. Avi immediately jumped into their conversation, he was quite comfortable with his teammates now, and the others could tell he really was an outgoing boy. He just had a bit of trouble breaking the ice. Jack was relatively quiet when he joined up, instead of telling others how is English class went he simply listened in on their conversation.

Gezie turned to the pair and asked, "Hey, how did classes go?"

"Could've been better," Jack hummed, shifting his backpack. He didn't want to talk about how the teacher had recognized him as Luthor's "poster boy", then proceeded to call him out in front of the entire class.

"My math class was great!" Avi grinned cheekily. He was in a high advanced mathematics course because of his greater understanding of the subject than most students. Though, he had been surprised and happy to find that Travis White was in his class as well. The pair had hit it off, discussing all sorts of topics, and Avi had a greater respect for the medic now. But he had found it a tad bit strange that the Alpha Team's medic had simply disappeared after class.

Gezie looked at Avi in horror, remembering her previous class. "Math is terrible!" She exclaimed

"Uh-uh. It's awesome," Raven argued, sticking his tongue out at her playfully. He made a mental note to ask her if she needed help when they returned to the dorm.

Carla rolled her eyes at Gezie, "It's not that bad. You just can't pay attention." She remarked dryly, then checked her class schedule, "I have combat next, how about you guys?"

Gezie dug her schedule out and informed the group, "I've got...Biology, with Mr. Brennan." She sighed, hanging her head. Carla frowned, secretly jealous of the girl. She loved sciences, but hated most physical classes.

"There, there," Raven patted Gezie's shoulder, "I have," he checked his schedule, "History next."

"Combat for me too, " Jack said, waving his paper a bit.

"Uh," Avi took his backpack off his shoulders, rummaging through his backpack. He let out a sigh of relief as he found the schedule, "Oh, I have Home Ec next."

Julia joined the group just in time from her Spanish class, hurrying to catch up. "You have Home Ec, Avi? Me too!" She grinned, elbowing the boy playfully.

Julia hadn't enjoyed her Spanish class very much. The teacher had taken away her sketch pad in the middle of the lesson, and she had wanted to blow up his desk for that. Of course, the teen didn't. She did have moral standards when it came to making explosions.

Roman exited a classroom, then snorted when he saw the Alpha team walking together in a group. He turned in the opposite direction, ignoring them completely. Julia caught sight of him, raising an eyebrow out of curiosity. That curiosity soon turned to frustration when she realized he was straight up ignoring them.

"Hey!" She shouted, staring at him in disbelief. "You can't just ignore us! You're as much as a part of this team as we are." She snapped.

Roman turned back to her and rolled his eyes,"Make me!" He yelled across the hall. He gave her a small smile, a taunt and challenge in some way. Julia felt her blood boil a bit, and heat rush to her cheeks.

"Wow, looks like someone has a crush." Carla smirked a little, knowingly teasing her. She couldn't help it, Julia just seemed to be the only person who wanted Roman around.

"Me? Like him? Only in his wildest dreams," Julia retorted hotly, crossing her arms in defiance. But that tiny tinge of pink on her cheeks had grown much larger, and it was now obvious she was very embarrassed. Julia grinned as she heard the bell ring; she was literally saved by the bell.

Carla saw the blush, and would have questioned it more, but decided to do it later. "If you say so…" She trailed off, waving a bit to her, then heading down the hall towards her next class.

* * *

 **The Academy, Combat Class**

 **September 11, 9:45 A.M. EST**

 **2021**

Carla hurried down the hall, slipping through a door and into combat class. She raised an eyebrow as she saw the room. It was a giant area, and had high, vaulted ceilings. The room was stark white with no windows, and white tiled floors. It was mostly empty, save for a group of students huddled in the center. She sighed, spotting Jack and decided to go next to the teen.

Jack arched a brow, giving her a questioning look. Carla shook her head, "I got lost." She mumbled, her blue eyes sweeping the room for the teacher. She finally spotted the professor- Harvard Jasper, and groaned softly. All day, everyone talked about how hard his class was. Carla wasn't really looking forward to it.

"Shut up!" Harvard bellowed, glaring at the loud class. It got silent within seconds, and one would be able to hear a pin drop. "God, you brats are so loud." He grumbled, taking a swig from his flask. Jack and Carla gave each other a glance.

"We're going to get started. One on one, pair up." He commanded, glaring at them.

Carla glanced around the room, turning to Jack. "Do you wanna…" She paused when she noticed the height difference. He was at least a foot taller. "Uh, nevermind. You'd kill me if we fought."

Jack chuckled at that, then froze when he felt someone tap his shoulder. He turned around to find Roman, smirking at him arrogantly. "Wanna pair up?" The teen asked, a glint of excitement in his eyes.

"I didn't know you were in this class. Why not?" He shrugged.

Harvard drank a bit more, rubbing his temple. "I should have refused this job." He mumbled to himself. Then a bit louder, "Alright! We're going to get started! We need one group of brave volunteers." He barked, scanning the group.

Roman and Jack raised their hands with a grin, and Carla glanced between the two was a frown. She didn't think this fight would go very well. Roman and Jack were both strong in terms of physical strength and combat skill; this would obviously be an explosive match up.

Roman cracked his knuckles with a cocky smile, pulled off his red hoodie to reveal a red tank top, then slipped into a fighting stance that resembled boxing.

Jack ran his fingers through his short, blond hair and settled into a karate stance. Carla bit her lip; the older teen looked experienced and confident with his fighting skills.

"Huh, Arsenault. You're here? This oughta be a show." Harvard grinned at Luthor's "poster boy", obviously going to be entertained by the fight. "No maiming, killing, or powers." He barked.

"Wait, what?" Roman glanced at the professor, confused. He had been betting on using his powers to win, as he knew that Jack was a stronger opponent.

"Begin!"

The red headed boy barely had time to block a punch Jack threw, and gritted his teeth as he raised his arms to cover his side. Roman realized Jack was fast, and incredibly strong. What kind of training did it take to get results like this? And if Jack had that training, why did he need to go to the Academy?

He didn't have any time to contemplate this, as the older teen slammed his knee into his side. He grunted as he slid backwards, and dug his heels into the floor to regain his traction.

Jack rushed at him again, following up with a roundhouse kick, but Roman countered by ducking, then slamming a fist into his shoulder.

Jack stepped back, analyzing his opponent. He wasn't even out of breath from the quick succession of attacks.

On the sidelines, Carla bit her lip slightly; this would be way more intense then she thought it would. Roman gritted his teeth, bringing his fists up again, then launched himself into another attack. This time he aimed for Jack's lower chest, but it was countered with another block. Roman quickly brought up a foot to his shin, catching him off guard, and he stumbled a bit.

As the fight continued, neither side was really winning or losing. Jack was stronger, faster and had more battle expertise, but Roman was scrappy and extremely determined. He always took opportunities that arose, and was holding his own against his teammate. When Jack got close to getting a good hit in, Roman would secretly ignite the sweat on his palms, creating a little spark and throwing his opponent off. Roman's powers were fire based; his sweat was pure nitroglycerin, and it was all fire fuel, allowing him to fly.

Finally, Harvard knew he had to call the fight off. "That's enough. You two, break it up!" He barked, stepping in between the pair.

Roman, who's tanned face was shining with sweat, "We haven't finished yet-"

"I don't care. This has gone on long enough." Harvard deadpanned, taking a drink of his gin. "If you want, you guys can finish this fight after school in the parking lot. But not now. Next group!" He motioned for the next pair to step up.

"You're a worthy adversary." Jack nodded, panting lightly as he offered Roman a hand to shake.

He brushed it off, his thin lips twisted in a scowl, "I'm going to beat you next time, Arsenault." He walked back over to the side, watching the next group of kids go at it.

"In your dreams." Jack chuckled quietly, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall.

Roman regarded his teammate coldly with a scoff, but the questions were still eating at him. How was Jack so strong, fast, and experienced? Why would he need to go to this school? He made a mental note to question the teen later. Right now, suspicion was bubbling for Roman, and he didn't exactly trust Jack.

Carla, who had been standing nearby, raised an eyebrow, "You're all… really good fighters." She remarked.

Roman shook his head, snapping himself out of his thoughts. He turned to Carla, "What? Can't you fight?" He narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

"I make potions, read, and work on magic. I don't do physical activity." She huffed, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, we're going to have to fix that." Jack glanced at Roman, and he nodded in agreement. They had silently agreed to teach her to fight, or at the very least, help her learn a bit of hand to hand combat.

Carla scoffed, "See how far that gets you." Then turned her attention to the sparring students.

* * *

 **The Academy, Beta Dorms**

 **September 11, 12:00 A.M. EST**

 **2021**

After a few more classes, the teens met up during their free period. The Alpha team, everyone except for Travis, met up and went to the Beta dorm. As they entered the dorms they were greeted by Phoebe, "About time you got here slowpokes!" She grinned, leaning against a wall casually.

"Well you know us. Always fashionably late," Raven joked, high-fiving Phoebe. The pair had instantly become friends during the school day, spending most of their time laughing and joking around.

"Well, Ana is in her room. She kicked us out because apparently we're too noisy," the red headed girl complained as she lead the Alpha team through the Beta dorms, then to Ana's room. Knocking on the door, Phoebe yelled, "You alive in there?" There was a muffled crash before Ana, in a Doctor Who crewneck sweatshirt and grey sweatpants, cracked open the door.

Jack cleared his throat slightly and asked, "May we come in?"

"Yeah, fine," she sighed, opening the door and walking back to her desk. Julia gasped in horror as she looked around the room. Other than the things the school had given them, the room was mostly bare, though the desk was neatly ordered and there was some clutter on the dresser.

Julia gasped out, "I-it's...so _plain_!"

David popped in as he said, "Yes! I know!"

"Oh, hey David!" Phoebe greeted, grinning at the sixteen year old.

Roman scoffed as he went over to the desk and picked up a velveteen rabbit sitting on a stack of sketch books, "A stuffed animal? What are you five years-"

"Don't touch my sh*t," Ana growled, picking up her crossbow, then pointing it at the taller boy threateningly.

"What? Like this?" Roman smirked, touching one of her sketch books, intentionally trying to anger her.

Ana's artic blue eyes flashed in anger, "That's it!" She loaded her crossbow, some of the teens rushed over. Jack gently took the stuffed animal from Roman and put it back in it's place. Avi quickly snatched the crossbow from Ana.

Sighing, Jack said, "Please calm down, and Roman don't provoke her."

Ana rolled her eyes before shoving Roman and Jack away from her desk. Avi had already moved away when she pulled out the crossbow. Ana glared suspiciously at the group, "He touches anything that belongs to me and he dies. Same goes to all of you."

"You seem moody this morning." Phoebe remarked, the fourteen year old chuckling a bit at her own joke.

"Not sleeping can do that to you," Ana grumbled, pulling her loose butterscotch ringlets into a low ponytail. "Anyways, to what you really came over for." She grabbed her computer and went over to her desk, sitting down and beginning to type away. When she realized they hadn't moved, she glanced back at the group and asked, "Are you going to loiter there or are you actually going to watch what I'm doing?" Gezie went over first, looking over Ana's shoulder.

"What are you doing?" Gezie asked, brushing a strand of sandy blonde hair from her blue eyes. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she watched pictures flash through the right box, the left was a picture of Elle.

"Searching through files by the assassin's face," Ana responded, grinning as 'MATCH' appeared on the screen and files popped up. The others gathered around, "Okay. So the assassin goes by the name Burst when taking jobs. She is about in her 20's, definitely has powers, but they can't really pinpoint what they are." She hummed, sitting cross-legged on her chair.

"Where is this information coming from?" Jack asked, looking over one of the matches that looked like a file. Ana smirked, "Anywhere and everywhere. How I did the face search was through multiple sites instead of focusing on one thing. It gives more information."

"Which site is this?" Raven asked, eating an apple he'd gotten from the Beta team fridge.

"Eating, again? Really Raven?" Gezie sighed, looking at the apple in the fifteen year old's hand. Raven shrugged, "What can I say? I'm hungry."

Rolling her eyes Ana said, "Doesn't matter. It's fine."

"But if we're doing something illegal to get this information...that's wrong," Raven frowned, crossing his arms.

"How else would you get the info?" Ana retorted, closing her laptop. 'Ugh. The self-righteous. Always questioning how I get my information. Can't they just be grateful I got the damn information?' She thought, turning to the group. Seeing the anger in Ana's eyes Julia chimed in, stopping her art conversation with David, "It's not that we're not happy you got the information. It's just we don't want to get in trouble for how you got it."

"Just like how you wouldn't want to get in trouble for hiding this from Luthor?" Ana drawled, getting up. Carla snickered, looking up from her book, "She brings up a good point."

Jack gave them a disapproving look, "Guys, please. It's just so we don't trouble anyone until we know if 'Burst' is a threat to us or not."

"I say not, unless you've got a high price on your head," Ana sighed, plopping back down in her chair. "She's a hired gun, wouldn't kill us for nothing. She usually goes for the highest payers." The group nodded and Phoebe puffed out one cheek before asking, "So...you guys wanna hang-out? Maybe help each other with homework?"

Ana shrugged, "I got it mostly done. The teachers gave it to me yesterday because I called in sick."

"What were you really doing?" David asked, "You disappeared and I heard you come back at about 12. Then I heard you faintly talking with someone." At everyone's questioning look he explained, "I was working on an art project."

The group then turned their attention to Ana, who pursed her lips before mumbling, "I was out questioning people who had seen what happened. Then I found who the man Burst was targeting was and called him to ask why he thought anyone would target him."

Julia looked at Ana in confusion, "But you didn't seem to want to dig up information on the assa-"

"No. I wasn't excited that someone else wanted me to do something," Ana frowned, "I like doing things of my own accord. This is actually a pretty interesting case though, so I chose to do it."

"Well...what did the man say?" Avi asked, sitting on Ana's bed, which was neatly made and a few feet from the desk. He stared at her intently, pushing the glasses that had slid down his nose back up.

"His name is Mr. Edgar Ashton," Ana told the group, "He's a head researcher at Cadmus. He's working on several very important projects." She replied. An awkward silence fell before Ana declared, "Well, you've got your information. Now get out of my room."

"Yes, your majesty," Phoebe grinned, before asking Raven as they went out of the room, "Think you can help me with math before next class?"

"Of course!" Came Raven's loud reply. The rest of the group quietly trickled out, agreeing to help each other with some subjects, though Avi lingered. Raising an eyebrow, Ana plopped down beside him, "I guess you want to talk or something?"

"Uh, yeah...since no one else really said it, thanks for getting that information," Avi said, running a hand through his unkempt black hair. Ana shook her head, "There's nothing to thank me for. It didn't really do anything useful. No leads as to who she really is and where she is."

"Well...you still tried your best," Avi pointed out, glancing at the seventeen year old. Rolling her eyes Ana huffed out, "Y'know. You're really something Avi."

"What do you mean?" The lanky teen asked, scrunching up his nose. Ana chuckled and hummed, "Nothing. Anyways, you should go join the group."

"Um, I don't really like literature. I'm fine with the other subjects, and did most of the homework in class," Avi blurted to the shorter teen.

"And you're telling me this why?" Ana asked, ambling up and sitting on her office chair, rolling in front of Avi.

He shrugged, "Well, you're in journalism, so you're probably good with literature. Think you can help me right now? And, if we don't finish before next class, after school?" Ana bit her lip before nodding, "Fine. Go get your bag."

"Thanks," Avi grinned, going out to the living room where the others were and where they had put their bags. The room was noisy, Raven and Phoebe having gotten off track, so had Julia and David. Carla was assisting Gezie with Math, while Gezie helped Jack and she with History, Roman had gone off somewhere.

"Hey Avi, finally joining the party?" Raven greeted the slightly taller boy. Avi chuckled and shook his head, "Sorry, but no. Ana's helping me with," he gagged, "Literature."

"Why don't you two come out here..or," Phoebe wiggled her eyebrows, "Is she helping you with something else too?" Raven and she high-fived as most of the group laughed.

Avi's light brown skin flushed a bit, and opened his mouth to respond, but Ana's voice floated through first, "It's not like that. We're just…," she thought of what word to say as Avi finished for her, saying, "Friends."

The olive skinned girl nodded, and walked in the room. Ana went into the kitchen and brewed some coffee, getting out her cup, which was blue and had 'I Am SHER Locked' on it. The others went back to what they were doing, Avi getting his Literature book out. Ana and Avi sat next to each other, a bit away from the group, as Ana helped him with literature. Everyone felt pretty much comfortable as they helped each other with homework before having to go to their next classes.

* * *

 **The Academy, English Class**

 **September 11, 12:30 P.M. EST**

 **2021**

Travis walked out of his English class, feeling pretty happy. He had an interesting discussion with his teacher over a piece of literature they both liked, and was content to have made friends with his professor.

He paused as he walked down the hall for a second, his eyebrows furrowing as he felt someone with malicious intent approach from behind him. He turned around, and felt someone knock his tablet out of his hands. The tablet was supplied by Luthor and it was what he used to take notes in class, and even had a keyboard in Braille. He gasped as he heard it clatter against the floor, then bent over to pick it up. Someone's boot slammed into his back, and Travis went sprawling out onto the floor of the hallway.

"See? I told you he was pathetic!" A voice laughed from behind him. Travis sighed, taking this torment in silence.

"He's not even able to find his tablet! I mean, how useless can you get?" Another girl laughed, kicking his tablet away from him.

"I-I need that!" He cried, his smile faltering at the mean spirited students.

One of them snatched it up, "Look! It's cracked." They laughed loudly, crowding around the red headed boy. Another student, grabbed it from the other, then hurled it to the floor. Travis winced as he heard it shatter.

Suddenly, Travis stared up in confusion as he heard loud footsteps quickly approaching. "There's nobody more pathetic than people who want to pick on someone who can't defend themselves," They growled. He immediately recognized the voice as Roman, and his pale lavender eyes blinked in surprise.

"Now get out of here. I've heard burning to death isn't very fun," The red eyed teen grinned maliciously, watching the other students hurry away. Roman chuckled darkly to himself, then turned his attention to Travis with a sigh. He grabbed the boy roughly by the upper arm, hauling him to his his feet.

"Really? It's the first day and you're already getting bullied." Roman said gruffly, dragging the taller, though he didn't want to admit it, teen to the empty nurse's office. Travis' smile widened a bit as he said, "Th-thanks for saving m-me, and we don't need to go to the nurse's office."

"Whatever," Roman grumbled, "I bet that tech geek can fix your tablet. Let's go to the dorms." Travis nodded, following Roman by his grumpy emotions.

At the dorm rooms, Avi Redhawk was tinkering with one of his machines at the kitchen table during the final few minutes of his free period. He had dubbed it the Squid Missile for the way it shot ink. He narrowed his eyes in concentration, gently moving one of the wires. Suddenly, the door flew open and he shot up in surprise.

Avi's eyes zeroed in on Roman and Travis coming in, and he sighed, sitting back down at the table.

"What's the rush? Why are you guys so agitated?" He asked, brows furrowing as he saw their facial expressions.

"Tech geek." Roman grumbled, shoving Travis' broken tablet at Avi. "Can you fix this?"

Avi gave a questioning look to Travis, which prompted the boy to explain. "I-It fell." The medic whispered, shifting uncomfortably.

"Really? First you almost get in a fight on the first day, now you're lying?" Roman snorted, glaring at Travis. He was getting pretty sick of how sketchy some of his teammates were. First Jack and now Travis? Too suspicious for him.

Travis sighed, then turned to Avi. "Someone pushed me and it cracked on the floor…" He mumbled, barely audible.

"Someone pushed you?" The inventor looked at him quizzically, then gently took the tablet from him. He examined it, then motioned for Roman to explain.

"They were picking on him, and they smashed it." Roman sighed, being very blunt with the teen.

Avi took a deep breath, trying to remain calm. He thought Travis was a good guy and couldn't believe anyone could try to hurt him. "Why were they picking on him?" He asked, his voice calm and even.

"They called him useless." Roman deadpanned, shooting Travis a look of disappointment

Avi balled his fists, scowling. "How could anyone call a medic useless? You save lives!" He snorted. The inventor was obviously a bit upset at the fact that someone else was being called useless other than him. Avi always thought of himself to unimportant to other heroes, but had tried his best throughout his life to contribute in some way to keeping peace. But he thought Travis was helpful, and felt a bit angry that he was being thought of as insignificant.

"I-it's fine Avi," Travis stuttered softly, trying to downplay the bullying. He had endured pain in silence before, this wouldn't be that different for him.

Roman rolled his eyes, "Look, it's over and done. Don't be so dramatic."

Ignoring Roman, Avi shook his head, "It's not fine Travis. They have no right to pick on you!"

Roman growled a bit, "I took care of it. Now, can you fix it or not?"

Avi grumbled a bit before nodding, "Yeah. I can fix it. It might take a day or two though." He glanced at Roman quizzically. "Wait. You're a total prick to the rest of us on this team. Why'd you help him?"

Roman crossed his arms, "Because… only I get to pick on Travis." He growled defensively.

"What?" Avi gasped mockingly, "Roman Polaris? Could it be… that he has a caring bone in his body?"

"No! I just… just fix it already, tech geek!" He snarled, before storming away to his room.

Avi stared after Roman as he walked away. After he heard the door slam, he gave Travis a questioning look. "He was… actually sorta nice to you, for once."

The blind teen's smile widened a bit as he nodded, "He's not a bad guy… just a little rough around the edges." He added quietly.

Avi stared at the floor, then nodded. "Yeah, I think so too. Now, do you wanna fix this?" He grinned to his friend.

"C-can I help?" He asked with a hopeful smile. "I've worked at LexCorp since I was a little kid…." He trailed off.

"That's where you got your medical knowledge from?" Avi's eyebrows rose in interest. He had always worked on inventions since he was a child, like Travis, his childhood passion had stayed with him all throughout his adolescence. "I worked for Luthor too." He mumbled a bit quieter. He didn't have the heart to tell Travis that he still did.

"Yes, I-I hold several college degrees." Travis blushed lightly, ducking his head.

"Wha-?" Avi gaped, his eyes widened. Then his face lit up with joy, "Get over here! You have to help me with this stuff!" He was overjoyed that Travis liked to deal with technology. They were outcasts on the Alpha team because of their lack of training, but now they had found something in common. Travis hurried over to the table, sitting on a stool.

"With you helping me… we could get this done in about… ten minutes!" He exclaimed, then pulled out a screwdriver from his pocket. The pair exchanged an excited look, then began working on the tablet.

* * *

 **The Academy, Art Class**

 **September 11, 01:00 P.M. EST**

 **2021**

Julia took a deep breath, carefully placing her paintbrush on the canvas of her masterpiece. She bit her lip in anticipation, gently curving her stroke downwards. She sighed with relief as she finished the painting. It was glorious.

It had taken her all of five minutes of showing off her painting skills to the professor to win her over, and was now the teacher's favorite. Even though, Mrs. Ellis claimed she had no favorite.

Julia frowned once as she spotted a flower on her magnificent painting that could use one extra touch up. She dipped her brush in the bottle of paint, gently pressing it to the masterpiece.

"What're ya painting?" A voice from behind her said suddenly.

Julia yelled, startled from the voice, and accidentally yanked the paintbrush down. It left a huge, red line of paint that dripped down her once perfect piece of artwork.

"M-my painting…" She stared in horror, then whirled around to find Raven. "You!" She gave him a seething glare.

"Oh man. You really messed that up," He chided, shaking his head. He noticed her glare, then gave her a confused glance. "What did I do?" He wondered.

"My. _Painting_!" She hissed, and jerked her thumb at the easel.

Raven's face quickly turned from confusion to horror, "Oh. _Oh_." He whimpered, slowly backing away from her.

"Julia? What's going…" Gezie poked her head from behind her easel, then noticed the giant red line on her art. "Raven?! What did you _do_?!"

"I didn't mean to!" The black haired teen exclaimed. Gezie gave Raven a look and Julia explained, "He popped up behind me a made me ruin my masterpiece!"

Raven opened and closed his mouth multiple times, looking like a fish before saying, "I didn't make her do anything!" Julia growled, her fists shaking.

"Julia, calm down. Raven didn't mean to," Gezie sighed, ambling up and putting a hand on Julia's shoulder. Raven nodded quickly, "Yeah. I didn't mean to startle you!" Gezie, stepping back as Julia took a deep breath, looked at the older girl with a weary expression.

David Porter, from the Beta Team, peeked over from his easel with a grin, but it faltered after he saw Julia's expression. "Did you…" He spotted the giant mark on her masterpiece. His expression darkened as he gave an accusatory glare to Raven. "You… just… _ugh_!" He shouted, gritting his teeth. He was a true artist at heart, like Julia, and hated anyone who disrespected his passion.

Julia scowled, and shouted, "You ruined it! How could you? That was my _masterpiece_!" Then, all hell broke loose when a paint can nearby exploded. The paintbrush Julia was holding suddenly exploded as well, colours flying everywhere. The brown haired girl let out a frustrated yell as she saw her painting had been even more ruined, as had her clothes. Gezie squeaked as Raven yelped in surprise when the paint splattered all over them. The blonde spotted the easel trembling, and knew that was about to explode as well. She pointed the palm of her hands towards a puddle of purple paint on the floor, pulling it up and created a small barrier between Raven and Julia.

Gezie heard a loud noise, then heard the easel clatter to the floor after it hit the shield.

Mrs. Ellis, who had went over just as the easel exploded, took a shaky breath. She was a petite woman, and had honey blonde hair. Her dark skin was covered in paint from Julia's little 'tantrum.'

"All of you, to the principal's office!" The normally quiet woman barked, startling the trio.

"But it wasn't m-" Raven stopped whining at the teacher's look. The four teens slunk to the principal's office. Julia giving Raven a dirty look as they walked, Gezie in between them in case Julia tried to hurt Raven. Said teen shuffled his feet as he walked, feeling guilty about causing Julia to get angry.

* * *

 **The Academy, Principal's Office**

 **September 11, 01:30 P.M. EST**

 **2021**

As they entered, Amun looked up from his paperwork and raised an eyebrow at their appearance.

"Mr. Rashid, I'm sor-" Julia started with a sigh.

"Sit," The man said, gesturing to the chairs across from him. Amun put down the pen he'd been signing papers with for over a hour and asked, "What happened?" The four teens started to speak all at once, each of them trying to prove their case, but he held a hand up. "One at a time," Amun pointed at Julia, "Go."

"Well, we were in Art class and Raven," the obsidian eyed girl glared at the mentioned teen, "decided to pop up behind me. That startled me and made me ruin my masterpiece!" Julia took a calming breath, "Which made me angry. Then he continued to antagonize me, which resulted in me accidentally," at Amun's deadpan look she corrected herself, "Which resulted in me making my paintbrush explode." The principal nodded and gestured for Raven to speak.

"It wasn't really my fault," the silver eyed teen started, "I just wanted to see how Julia was doing with her painting, cause she's really good at it. I didn't mean to scare her!" He defended himself, "I mean, I didn't make her do anything. I didn't make her brush down and destroy her work or make the paintbrush explode." Raven rambled, about to go on when Amun motioned for Gezie's side of the story. The small girl nodded and started, "You see, I was mostly just a bystander trying to help." Gezie took a breath before continuing, "Raven popped up behind Julia, which startled her and she ruined her painting. I asked what happened and Raven said it wasn't his fault. Then I tried to calm Julia down. After that she was so angry the paintbrush...exploded. Uh, and Mrs. Ellis sent us to your office." She trailed off, mumbling the last part.

"Yeah. It was pretty exciting! Julia went all crazy with her powers!" David chirped happily, grinning at Julia.

Amun was not amused. "And how do _you_ fit into this problem?" He sighed.

"They disrespected art. I found that horrendous. I just happened to be an innocent bystander during this whole ordeal," David sniffed, shooting a glare to Raven and Gezie.

The girl rolled her eyes, and slumped down in her seat. "There goes all that progress we made with the team bonding," Gezie sighed, resting her head on her hand.

Amun rubbed the bridge of his nose with an annoyed sigh, "You're acting like children. Raven, say you're sorry. Julia, please accept the apology, I am sure Raven didn't mean to make you mess up."

"Julia...I'm really sorry. I just wanted to see how you were doing cause, well, you're really good at art and stuff," Raven mumbled, looking at his feet. Julia glanced at Raven. Thinning her lips, the brown haired girl sighed, "It's not okay, but I forgive you."

David grumbled a bit about how Raven had been forgiven too easily, but mostly kept his mouth shut. Amun nodded, not completely satisfied, but decided it was good enough for now.

"Well, is that all?" The principal asked, picking his pen back up. The four teens nodded, getting up from their seat with a gesture of dismissal from Amun.

As soon as the oak door shut and the group made it out to the hall, Gezie gave Raven and Julia an annoyed look. "Come on, you guys. Can we just… forget about this stuff?" Her blue eyes gave them both pleading looks.

"Of course!" Raven gave Julia an apologetic smile. The artist sighed begrudgingly, then nodded in acceptance of his apology.

"Great! Now we can focus on getting back to class…" Gezie trailed off, checking a clock on the wall. She frowned, seeing that classes had already concluded for the day.

"Guess we meet back up at the dorm with the others?" Julia guessed, heading down the hall towards the dormitories.

"Let's go." David nodded, then followed the others as they headed back.

* * *

 **The Academy, Alpha Dorms**

 **September 11, 02:00 P.M. EST**

 **2021**

After her classes, Carla was working over a glass bowl at the kitchen table, struggling to mix a thick black goo. It was supposed to be a sort of paste that would work as super glue to trap people in place, but her potion had backfired and become immoveable. She let out a frustrated groan, tapping her fingers impatiently on the wooden surface.

"You know," Avi looked over from the couch where he was fixing the tablet. "If you used actual science, and not unreliable magic, you might actually get somewhere with that." He snorted.

Carla shot him a glare, "My magic is reliable. You know what isn't reliable? Going to fight with no battle expertise." She shot back.

Avi flexed his jaw, a tiny blush rising to his cheeks. He knew she was right, he didn't know how to fight at all. "I'll get you back for that one, O'Connell." He chuckled dryly, then paused. His brown eyes narrowed, zeroing in on a figure in a tree outside.

"What's wrong, Redhawk? Can't think of a comeback? I mean, magic is more versatile than science when in battle. So it's obviously superior." Carla smiled a bit smugly, turning around to get back to work on her potion. As she turned, she as well noticed the figure in the tree.

Her eyes narrowed, trying to make out who it was. "What the-?"

"Get down!" Avi yelled, processing what was happening. He tackled her just as an arrow sailed through the window, shattering part of it, and flew past their heads. Carla stayed quiet, breathing heavily as they scooted underneath the heavy wooden table.

"What do we-"

"Quiet." Avi hushed her as he gritted his teeth; a bit of glass had cut into his hand. He slowly peeked out the window again, then sighed with relief. The figure was gone, and they were alone again.

Carla's eyes zeroed in on a scrap of paper attached to the arrow that was buried into the wall, and cautiously made her way towards it.

"Carla? What is it?" Avi asked curiously, glancing out the window for their attacker.

Her eyes widened as she read it, then held it out for him to read.

' _Team Alpha-_

 _Beware where you step, for each one could be your last. Luthor won't always be around to protect you. We will make sure of that._

 _-The Light of Justice'_

 **A/N: And that's the episode! So this wasn't much for plot development, but you saw in the end the Alpha and Beta were investigating The Assassin and there was also an attempt on Carla and Avi's life. Next chapter, we will really get into plot.**

 **This episode was mainly for character development. You all sent us wonderful OCs, so we simply had to show more of their personalities. Let's get something clear though. We don't intentionally make these chapters long. We try to have a set idea of what we want to write… and then always end up writing more somehow. If these chapters are too long for you or If you'd like them split up, please tell us. If you stay quiet, nothing will ever get better or changed.**

 **Now, as you know, this is the 5th episode. There are currently only 4 more until the Season 1 finale. Don't panic; as you know our chapters are long. We hope to finish season 1 by the beginning of December so we can have the month to prepare for the next.**

 **As for the next update, it will probably be a little late. We are all currently dying at school as it's exam time for us, so we're probably going to be late. Or we might just make a shorter chapter. Who knows?**

 **Everyone! There is a Poll for who should be the team leader on Alpha! Go vote!**

 **Attention all Beta Teamers: 2 of you have not notified us that you are on board. You have until the release next episode to do so, or else your spot will go to someone else. Either review or PM us.**

 **We hoped you enjoyed! Please, tell us what you thought! It's always encouraging to get feedback~**

 **Thank you~!**

 **~The Fangirls**

 **Questions(They apply to Beta too):**

 **Which OC (besides your own) is your favorite and why?**

 **Who would you like to see more of?**

 **Which scene in this episode was your favorite?**

 **Any scene ideas for your character?**

 **Important: Any mission ideas?**


	6. S1, Episode 6: Trainwreck Part 1

**.**

 **How Far We've Fallen**

 **.x.x.x.x.x.**

 **Season 1, Episode 6**

 _~The YoungJusticeFangirls~_

 **The Academy, Alpha Dorm**

 **September 15, 03:00 P.M EST**

 **2021**

Avi unfurled the scrap of paper with the threat, and made an annoyed noise. He had been pondering the attack for a few days, and was frustrated that there were absolutely, zero leads on this. He had sought out Ana after he told the team about the attack, and had asked her to research the Light of Justice. Nothing had turned up, even when using her other, _totally_ legal methods. She pushed them out, seeming a bit upset they'd touched the 'evidence' the Light of Justice left, and told them she'd find out where the special arrow that shattered the window was from. But after a few days of investigating, Ana concluded, disappointed in herself for not finding anything, that there were no other arrows like this. It was handmade, and left no trace.

Avi was suddenly jerked out of his thoughts as someone set down a plate of steaming food before him. He looked up, seeing Julia shaking her head disapprovingly.

"You need to put that away. You're too focused on this." She chided, crossing her arms. After she had calmed down from her temper tantrum in Art class, she had asked Raven how she could have make it up to him. He had requested food. And lots of it. So for the past 4 days, Julia had made him and the team breakfast and other assorted snacks to munch on.

"Here you go, Raven." Julia gave him a small smile as she set a plate of food down in front of him. He grinned happily, starting to chow down already.

Roman scoffed a bit defensively, "She's been babying you all week. What is she, your mother?" He rolled his eyes. Raven pouted, giving the red eyed boy a childish look. Julia wasn't really the "den mother" of the group, Travis actually was. He cared and worried so much about everyone else that he had immediately earned the title.

Carla snickered, "Somebody's jealous~" She mocked Roman with a teasing smile. She hadn't stopped making fun of Julia for that conversation in the hall they had earlier in the week. She still believed Julia was developing a crush for the delinquent, but couldn't seem to fathom why.

"Huh? No way," Roman grumbled, though a dusting of pink came to his cheeks from her teasing. "Only in her wildest dreams."

Julia scoffed, rolling her eyes, "Uh-uh. I wouldn't dream of you _ever."_ A small blush also arose for her, and she turned her head away so Carla wouldn't see.

But the druidess had already confirmed it from Julia's body language. Her teammate was developing a crush on Roman Polaris. And it was one of the most bizarre things she thought she might have witnessed.

On the other side of the table, Gezie was noticing it too. She shared a look with Carla, then gave a sigh. "Moving right along from this awkward silence, Avi, was Ana able to find anything else about the materials used to make the arrow?" She questioned the inventor.

"Not that I know of. She basically said it would be impossible to trace where this thing came from." He huffed, taking a small bite of his food. "She did, however, give us her theory on why we were targeted."

"And?" Jack prompted from across the table, scarfing down a turkey sandwich Julia made.

"That this whole thing was just to scare us. Ana said that this group probably doesn't exist. If they did, her sources would know about it. And they don't." Avi sighed, picking at his food slowly with his fork.

"So this whole thing, the attempt on my life, was just a… prank?" Carla deadpanned, not amused at all.

"Basically." Avi nodded, glancing at Gezie. "Should we tell Mr. Rashid?" The others turned to the blonde girl as well. Over the past few days, they had all looked to Gezie to command and guide them. She had become their unofficial leader in a way.

"What are you asking me for?" She looked around the group, puzzled. "I'm not your leader. If anyone should be the leader, it should be Jack." She gestured to the older boy.

"I don't think I should lead," He shook his head. "You're better suited. You're calm, collected, can smooth over any tension between us, and you're very determined and friendly. All the qualities a leader should have," He pointed out.

"Well… if you all think so, I suppose I can't turn down the job." Gezie sighed, picking up the glass of water that was before her and taking a sip.

"All in favor?" Avi asked, raising his hand. The others, except Roman, followed suit. "Those who oppose?" He asked. Roman still didn't raise his hand.

"You didn't vote." Jack sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"I don't need to. I don't care." Roman smirked at him, rolling his eyes. Julia frowned in disappointment. She thought they were finally getting somewhere with him. The last few days he had been a little less of a jerk to them, especially Travis. He was still harsh to him, but seemed to understand the medic in a way.

Just then, the door to their dorm swung open, and Travis White and Genevieve LaRoux stepped inside.

"Travis? What's going on?" Raven frowned, his eyes searching the boy's face for any sign of worry.

"D-don't worry. Just let Ms. LaRoux explain," Travis assured his team softly, his smile still ever present.

"Team Alpha," Genevieve began with a deep breath, a serious look in her eyes. "You have a mission. Suit up."

 **Metropolis, Subway Station**

 **September 15, 04:00 P.M EST**

 **2021**

Carla sighed as Alpha team, wearing their mission suits, moved onto a mostly empty train. It was a private train for a famous business apparently. Their mission was simple enough: protect the cargo. She was a bit annoyed, as Genevieve wouldn't tell them what the cargo was or what company they were helping. Carla supposed it was simple and easy enough, and she figured nothing exciting would really happen.

The Alpha Team boarded the train, as they went into one of the train cars, they saw it was filled with crates. The crates were all sorts of sizes, and covered by sheets. Raven wanted to pull off the sheets, but decided to focus on the mission. The team settled into silence as the train started up and left the station.

"Jack, are you sore from that training exercise we had?" Roman asked suddenly, grinning a bit as he studied the older boy.

"Not really. No offense, but you didn't do much damage." Jack shrugged, crossing his arms casually.

Roman's grin grew wider for some reason, "I know. Which makes me wonder, why? I got some good hits in. And you went right along like it was nothing." He leaned forwards a bit, studying him.

Jack's eyes narrowed slightly, "What do you mean by that?" It was absolutely silent on the train as everyone watched the pair talk.

"I mean, how did you get like this? No teenage boy can build this much muscle mass without having outside help. You're not going to get these results lifting weights for the high school football team." Roman snorted, scowling at Jack.

The teen shifted uncomfortably slightly, looking away from him. "I...it doesn't matter. You don't need to know." He mumbled.

"Oh, so now you're hiding things from us?" Gezie raised an eyebrow from her seat off to the side. Jack gave her a pleading look with his hazel eyes, "No. I'd never be dishonest with the team. Just… I can't tell you all." He ran a hand through his hair.

"And why not?" Carla huffed, narrowing her eyes at the taller teen.

"G-guys… maybe we should drop it." Travis tried to soothe over the situation. Jack was his friend, and Travis wanted to help him since he could feel Jack was uncomfortable.

"I agree. We'll drop it and focus on the mission." Gezie sighed, giving Jack a disapproving look.

"For now." Roman narrowed his eyes at Jack in suspicion, before he looked out the window of the train.

Julia, who was looking out the window instead of paying attention to the group, frowned when she noticed that the train completely missed their stop. "Um… guys? We missed our stop."

"What?" Gezie asked, standing and looking out the window. She frowned, watching as the platform faded from view, "Okay. Something's up."

"Wait. Where are we _going_?" Raven narrowed his silver eyes as the train turned down a different path. "I don't remember ever going down this tunnel." The tunnel didn't have any lights in it, and they continued down it until it was pitch black around them.

Gezie and Avi exchanged a look, and she nodded. "Let's go team. We'll see what's going on with the conductor." She threw open the door, and gasped.

"Hello, little heroes. I thought I recognized you," A voice purred. It was Elle, the assassin they faced at the pizza parlor. She was dressed in her spandex battle suit, and her blue hair was pulled into a topknot. She smirked at them, slowly walking towards them. Raven immediately scowled when he saw her, and Travis slowly backed up.

"You. You took over the train, huh?" Julia growled, clenching her fists. She wanted to blow this woman up, but knew she it could cause serious damage to the train and it's precious cargo if she did.

"You're so smart." Elle mocked her with a grin."What, do you think I'm here to fight _you?_ No. I'm just here for the train. Killing you little kids is just an added bonus." She taunted.

Roman gritted his teeth, and lunged at Elle with a punch to her chest. But to his and everyone else's surprise, she simply caught it like it weighed nothing. Roman stared at her in disbelief, and tried to wrench his hand away, but she was strong, really strong.

"What the…" He gaped at her, and she slammed a knee into his chest. He went flying back, landing on the floor with a small groan. Jack saw this and gritted his teeth, struggling to stay calm.

Elle took notice of the teen, and smirked at him. "You see Jack, we have something in common." Elle cracked her knuckles. "Cadmus has both done terrible things to us." She taunted him.

That pushed Jack over the edge, and he scowled at her. "You don't know anything about me!" He growled, slamming his fist towards her. Elle caught that one too, but it was clear she was having trouble holding her own against him. Jack was much, much stronger and faster than Roman.

"Oh, but I do. Cadmus has a whole file on you. And I've read it." She chuckled dryly. Jack let out a yell, slamming Elle into the train wall. She grunted and glared at him, "How about we take this outside?" An energy ball that looked like blue flames flared up in her hands, and she fired it at the roof, creating a fairly large hole. She leapt to her feet, quickly tackling him. Soon her feet left the ground and she shot up through the hole in the roof.

Everyone exchanged a surprised and horrified look when they saw the scene pan out in front of them. "What the hell was that?" Avi cried, looking up at the roof after Jack.

"We underestimated her. Big time." Carla said, a horrified look on her face. Jack was their strongest fighter, if he had trouble battling Elle, then the others didn't stand a chance.

"C'mon! We've got to help," Gezie said,the tattoos on her arm rippling as they began to take shape. Roman began to jog in place, and Gezie just stared at him. "What are you doing?" She exchanged a confused glance with Julia.

"Watch this." Roman grinned, a few beads of sweat slipping down his forehead. He seemed to be consumed in a ball of fire, and shot up, landing on the roof.

"Oh. That was smart. He was producing sweat, to help him fly up." Carla remarked, nodding her head in approval.

"I-I think I should go up to help them…" Travis told the remaining 5 of his teammates.

"You can't fight though." Avi frowned, concerned for the young medic. If Travis couldn't handle a few bullies, how would he handle Elle?

Travis bit his lip, giving Avi a smile. "N-no, I can't, but I can share my energy with others. That's why, during battle, you all feel so strong and I…"

"You feel so weak." Raven finished for him, now holding even more respect for the boy. Travis helped his team at the expense of himself."Alright. Let's go. I teleport us both up there." He grabbed the medic by the arm.

Suddenly, the whole train car rocked as the vehicle came to a short and sudden stop. The group fell silent, looking at each other in horror.

Avi grimaced as he looked back towards the end of the cars, and saw some figures get on the train. "We've got company." He whispered, eyes wide.

"Raven, get Travis up there, then come back down here to help." Gezie ordered. When she saw his facial expression, she sighed. "I know you want a rematch with Elle for what happened at the pizza parlor, but right now we need to get this taken care of." She gestured to the crates. Raven sighed, then grabbed Travis, teleporting him up.

 **Metropolis, Subway Station**

 **September 15, 05:00 P.M EST**

 **2021**

As Elle slammed a foot into Roman's chest and he hit the roof of the train with a grunt; he couldn't help but feel a bit angry that he was losing. He figured this would be an easy fight since it was two against one, but whatever Cadmus did to her, it had worked really well. Elle was a beast, and pretty hard to land a hit on.

She zipped through the subway tunnels, following the train as she fired energy blasts at the pair. Jack danced about, dodging as many as he could, and waiting for her to get closer so he could take her down.

Roman groaned slightly as he stumbled up, then ignited his sweat and shot into the air. He hovered for a moment, glaring at the assassin, then charged again. He tried to throw a few punches, but Elle was extremely quick. She landed hit after hit on Roman, eventually splitting his lip with a punch. She fired off rounds of energy blasts at him, and one of them even hit his leg, making him hiss from the pain.

"Damn it." He grabbed his leg, wincing as he saw a pretty nasty burn. He glared at her, then charged again. Roman tackled her, mid air, slamming her into the walls of the subway tunnel. Parts of the stone even cracked a little.

"Nice one." Elle chuckled, then grabbed his arm, twisted it, and slammed him into the wall as well. "But I can do better." She grinned, flaring up an energy ball, slowly moving it towards Roman's neck, very gently grazing his skin with the energy. The boy gasped sharply in pain as it burned away his skin; it was hot and very, very painful. He panicked as the energy ball and his nitroglycerin sweat came in contact with each other, and it created a minor explosion that sent both of them flying back.

Elle groaned, slowly clambering to her feet. She shot a glare at Roman then launched herself into the air, heading back to the train.

Roman was panting heavily and he pressed a hand to the spot where Elle had begun to burn him. He winced and hissed from the pain, making a mental note to have Travis heal that later.

"Huh. Travis { _is}_ useful." Roman furrowed his brows in realization, then activated his powers and flew after the subway, trying to catch up.

Back on the subway roof, it was pitch black and Jack couldn't see a thing.

"Damn it. Why is it so dark?" Jack cussed, trying to find Roman in the darkness that consumed him.

He perked up as he heard soft footsteps approaching, then whirled around, putting the advancing figure in a headlock.

"S-stop! It's me!" The person cried. Jack immediately recognized it as Travis. He let go, dusting off the boy's shoulders. "Sorry! Really, I'm sorry. I didn't mean that, I just can't see anything." Jack quickly apologized.

Travis chuckled softly, "Me neither." He shrugged. Jack chuckled nervously, a bit embarrassed. The medic's head snapped up, and he frowned. "We have company." He pointed into the darkness where a few mercenaries that were helping Elle, were climbing onto the roof.

"Travis, I can't see anything. Get out of here, I can't protect you." Jack yelled over the roar of the train.

"I- I'll be your eyes." Travis stuttered nervously, bracing himself for this fight. He reached out with his empathy, using it to pinpoint their attackers. He felt something, and took a nervous breath. "Your left! Nine o'clock!" He yelled.

Jack slammed a boot into the chest of one of the attackers, hearing their body crash against the wall of the subway tunnel afterwards.

"To your right! Three o'clock!" He shouted. Jack threw a punch, hitting the assailant square in the jaw. He crumpled to the ground. Another mercenary snuck up on him and brought his fists down on his head, but Jack didn't even flinch when it hit him. He countered with a headbutt, and the man fell immediately.

"N-nice…" Travis' eyes widened slightly at how quickly Jack took out their attackers. If he were ever to be an enemy to the Alpha team… he shuddered. Travis tried not to think of that.

Suddenly, the train car they were standing on rocked and shuddered. Travis flailed his arms, but Jack grabbed him to keep him steady. Then the car they were standing on started to slow down, and his eyes widened.

"They're detaching the cars!" He yelled to Travis, and the medic gulped. "Get on." He crouched down so his teammate could get on his back. Travis quickly climbed on, and Jack stood up as he took a deep breath. He got a running start, sprinting towards the edge of the roof. He jumped, then landed on the edge of the other car, then glanced back and saw the previous car they were on detach and slow down.

"J-Julia and Carla were in that car." Travis stuttered, horrified look on his face as he sensed their feelings. There was a lot of fear and anger stemming from Julia, but Carla was relatively calm. He was thankful that Julia, who was always filled with emotion, had someone calm and collected to keep her grounded.

"Damn it. They're trying to divide us. Hopefully they won't conquer." Jack muttered, getting to his feet. "We have to get to them-" Suddenly, he yelled as someone slammed into him.

Travis gasped; he hadn't even sensed this person's feelings when they approached.

Jack was thrown onto the roof of the adjacent car, and he groaned as he climbed to his feet. "You." He recognized Elle in the darkness, glowering at her. "Where's Roman?" He snarled.

"Beats me. He couldn't take the heat." Elle gave him a devilish smile, an energy ball flaring up in her hand. "I don't know why you're protecting this cargo. You and I, we're in the same boat. We've both had lives stolen away by the same people you protect." She taunted him. "Don't you want some closure for that? Don't you want revenge on them?" She demanded.

Jack remained silent for a moment, his facial expression a mixture of anger, hurt, and confusion. He really was in an intense internal debate.

Nearby, Travis had heard everything. And he was panicking. Was Jack really considering betraying them? Was he really on their side? Travis refused to believe something so awful, he was positive his teammate wouldn't betray them.

 **Metropolis, Subway Station**

 **September 15, 06:00 P.M EST**

2021

As soon as Raven teleported Travis up, more figures appeared to be climbing onto the last car of the subway train. Gezie frowned, tugging on Avi's sleeve.

"Hey, if we get you to the conductor car do you think you could take the train over again?" She asked, watching the figures carefully. Avi nodded, pushing his glasses up as they slid down his nose, "Yeah. I could… try to get you back on track." He sighed nervously.

Carla sighed and crossed her arms, "I suppose we'll try to cover you, or at least try to draw most of their attention?"

Gezie nodded, "Exactly. Avi, you've got this. Don't doubt yourself."

Gezie and Avi started to run to the conductor's car. Some of the attackers started to follow them, the others going toward Julia and Carla. A few pulled out some tools, and it looked like they were doing something to the railway coupler.

Julia grinned, picking up a small metal pole off the ground that fell when the roof exploded. She held the metal pole like a baseball bat as the figures approached. Carla thinned her lips, resting a hand on a potion to turn people into insects.

"Why, it's some little heroes. How fun," A woman chuckled, holding a gun loftily. One of her partners slammed a foot down on the latch that held the cars together. The car gave a small lurch and the two girls' eyes widened as they saw their car separating from others.

Gezie stumbled into Avi as the cars rocked. "Sorry," the sandy haired teen muttered.

Avi shook his head and steadied her, "It's fi-..." He trailed off, his eyes going wide as he looked out the window.

"What is it?" Gezie asked, look where he was. "Oh no." She gaped standing straight as she watched the car with the cargo, Julia, and Carla fade from view.

"Oh yes," A voice drawled. The person who had separated them had made it into the car, with two others climbing in from the windows. They nodded to each other then got to work; the two that had entered ran to the conductor's car, while the boy stayed behind. Gezie narrowed her eyes, solidifying her tattoos into a whip.

"Avi, you think you can keep going and beat the other two to the conductor's car?" Gezie asked, sliding into a fighting stance.

The lanky boy bit his lip, unsure, but nodded, "Yeah...I'll try."

The man who'd separated a the cars suddenly lunged at Gezie, who yelled, "Avi, go! Now!" The mechanic hesitated for a second before taking off. He wished he could have stayed behind and helped, but he knew the best way to help was to get the train back under control.

Gezie turned to the man she was fighting, grabbing his wrist as he lunged for her. He growled, throwing a roundhouse kick at her. She grunted as he got her shoulder, losing control over her whip for a moment. He got a good punch in on her jaw, and she rubbed it a bit to ease the sting of pain.

"My turn." Gezie smirked, dodging his next attack with a cartwheel. She landed on both feet, held onto the subway poles, the jumped up and kicked out both of her feet, landing a solid hit to his chest. Her opponent cried out as he was slammed into the wall. Gezie rushed forward with a yell, punching the man square in the nose. He dropped to the ground, unconscious, with a small groan.

Gezie took a step back, pushing her sandy blonde hair out of her face with a triumphant smile.

"Wow." Someone said from behind her. She turned to find Raven, back from getting Travis to the roof, staring at her with wide eyes. "Nice work. He didn't stand a chance." He snickered.

"Thanks." Gezie chuckled, then her eyes widened as she remembered Avi. "We have to help Avi and get control of the train again!" Raven nodded as he said, "Let's go."

The two started to run to the conductor's car. As they arrived they heard Avi's voice exclaim, "Sh*t!" Kicking the door open, Gezie and Raven stumbled upon the scene. One of the figures was trying to push Avi out an open window, while the other was messing with the controls.

"Hey!" Raven exclaimed, rushing forward and pulling the man off Avi. The man turned, blindly throwing punch at Raven, who quickly turned into a shadow to avoid it.

Gezie went for the woman messing with the controls as Raven went for the man, wrapping her whip around the person's ankle and yanking her down. The woman growled, turning and giving a sharp tug to the whip. Gezie stumbled, but recovered quickly, making the ink liquid again, gathering it in her hand.

As Gezie and Raven fought the two hijackers, Avi groped around the dark to the controls. Looking over his shoulder, Avi watched the fight for a second before going back to looking for a way to get the train to stop, or get back on track.

"Avi, dude," Raven called, dodging a kick from one of the hijackers, "How's it coming?"

The mechanic couldn't help but frown in self doubt, "Gimme a sec, I think I've got it figured out..."

Gezie rolled her eyes at her attacker, wrapping her whip around the other hijacker's wrist and slamming him into the wall.

Gezie threw a quick punch to the woman's jaw, but her opponent caught her fist with a smirk. She judo flipped Team Alpha's leader onto her back, then slammed a foot into her wrist. Gezie yelled in pain, hearing a soft crack. When her attacker when to stomp on her again, the ink manipulator grabbed her foot with her ink whip, yanked it, and knocked the woman off her feet.

"Hurry!" She called out to Avi, before wincing when she moved her hand. It was definitely broken. She took a deep breath, then launched herself back at her opponent, going back into the fight. She slammed several kicks into the woman's side, before knocking her out by throwing her into the wall.

Avi sighed in relief as he found how to stop the train and shouted, "Hold on!" Before the train screeched to a stop suddenly, jerking everyone. Avi stumbled, but held himself up by the controls. Raven let out a relieved breath as the train stopped, leaning on the wall. Gezie hung onto one of the window sills.

A laugh bubbled out of Raven, "We did it! We stopped the train!" He went over to Avi, as he complemented, "Dude, nice job!" The silver eyed teen grinned at the mechanic, patting his shoulder. Gezie nodded, corners of her mouth twitching up, "Yeah Avi, good job." The seventeen year old rubbed the back of his neck and started, "It wasn't really any-"

"No," Raven shook his head, interrupting Avi, "It was definitely something, and it helped a lot." Avi blinked in surprise before smiling at the ground, mumbling out, "Thanks."

 **AN: Sorry for the choppy ending y'all, but as some of you know, we had to split this chapter up because we wrote 8,000 freaking words in five days. To us, that's pretty freakin' impressive. I mean, how many authors do you know that can write this much in so little time** _ **and**_ **proofread too? Not many.**

 **The next chapter should be out either tomorrow night or the next morning after that. So, you'll have your answers as to what happens next very soon :)**

 **1\. If you want to read again and listen to music, the music this chapter is based off of us** _ **I'm The One by Casey Lee Williams.**_ **Now you can clearly see each member of the team has an important part to play, and everyone depends on each other. Another congrats to Gezie, who won the poll and was voted in as the leader of Team Alpha.**

 **2\. As you know, Team Beta didn't make an appearance this chapter. Sorry, but we had to focus on this group of character for plot development reasons. They're the main characters for a reason.**

 **3\. Only one person hasn't responded or reviewed yet. You know who you are and your character is officially out of the story. We will be having another character coming in to take his place in the beginning of Season Two, which will start in December.**

 **4\. Another issue we must address… is length of chapters. Some of our ladies think that we write to much, but we can't seem to stop ourselves from making these hilariously long chapters. Again, tell us if it ever gets too long for you.**

 **5\. Quinn (CrazyPlotQueen) has made a new cover for the story! Check that out! In addition to that, she's talking to a few friends about possibly making some fan art for the characters in our story.**

 **Sneak Peek for Next Episode:** "You're… playing with forces you can't control. Fighting a war you won't win. A war where surviving is the only glory."

 **~Questions~**

 **1\. Which character's death would impact the Alpha Team the most?**

 **2\. What are you liking/disliking about this story so far?**

 **3\. How do you want your OCs backstory to be revealed?**


	7. S1, Episode 7: Trainwreck Part 2

**.**

 **How Far We've Fallen**

 **.x.x.x.x.x.**

 **Season 1, Episode 7**

 _~The YoungJusticeFangirls~_

 **Metropolis, Subway Station**

 **September 15, 06:30 P.M EST**

 **2021**

As the subway car slowed to a stop, Julia let out a frustrated groan. "I can't believe we didn't see that coming!" She huffed.

"There's no way we'll be able to catch up to the others," Carla shook her head. "We're on our own out here."

"So what do we do? We can't just sit out on the sidelines!" Julia threw her hands up, sinking down on, what she hoped to be, a bench. It was pitch black all around them since the car had been disconnected from the main power supply. The girls couldn't see a thing, and it made them a little uneasy.

Carla shrugged, turning on the flashlight on her phone to give them a little light. "Maybe we should just find a way out of here. We're sitting in the middle of a dark subway tunnel, that doesn't exactly sound too safe to me," She drawled.

"You're… right," Julia sighed. "We should probably get out of here. Maybe try and find a way to contact the others."

"I think… we might have to call for help," Carla gave Julia an unsure look, "We don't know if the others are in danger. I mean, you heard the fighting that was going on with Jack, Roman, and Elle on the roof. These people mean business."

"We all heard them. They were putting up a hell of a fight, and we mean business too. We should wait until we know what's going on with the others first," Julia snapped. It was obvious the artist didn't like accepting help. She was an independent girl at heart, and calling for help was worse case scenario for her. But in her head, she knew that they might have to call the Academy or Beta team for backup if things got worse than they already were...

Carla was obviously getting a bit stressed at how much trouble they were in, but she kept her calm demeanor and her wits about her. "I don't know what to do. All I know is that the team is in trouble and we can't-" She was cut off as Julia clapped a hand over her mouth.

"Hold on. Shut up for a second," the artist hushed Carla, tilting her head to the side. Carla raised an eyebrow in confusion, then her eyes widened when she realized what was happening. The girls could very faintly hear a sound coming down the tunnel, going over the tracks.

"Is it a train?" Julia asked quietly, horrified at the prospect. Then she faintly saw a pair of headlights coming down the tunnel. It was a jeep, heading towards them quickly. "It's a truck. Elle and the other mercenaries must have called for backup. We need to stop it so it can't reach us or the others."

"Wait a minute. Hold on," Carla looked around, getting to her feet. "We're underground. Let me handle this." She stumbled to the door of the car, groping around for the latch, sighing in relief when she found it. She jumped out of the subway, going to the front of the car.

"Carla? What are you doing?" Julia hissed, her eyes wide as she stared at the incoming vehicle that drove over the subway rails. Carla took a deep breath, waiting for a moment. Finally, her eyes flew open and she raised her hands, the stone walls around her began to tremble. Then several large roots broke through the walls, stretching across the tunnel until they formed a sort of barrier.

"Whoa! Look at you go!" Julia exclaimed, grinning as Carla worked to block the jeep from going any farther. The roots twisted and braided together, strengthening and holding back the vehicle. Carla could hear the angry shouts of the men in the jeep.

"That… was a bit tiring, but worth it," Carla admitted, sinking down on the back of the subway car. Suddenly she jumped up as she heard a few gunshots. "They're shooting at us! We need to find cover." Carla called and motioned for Julia to get down. The druidess hurried back inside the car and took cover underneath a seat. One of the bullets that slipped past a weak spot in the roots, shattered a window, and the girls screamed as they covered their heads. Then, a line of bullets ripped against the roots, effectively damaging the barrier.

"They have machine guns! They aren't going to leave us alive, we have to do something. They'll kill us!" Carla's voice rising, worry and fear cracking through her calm. She flinched as another bullet scraped the side of the car.

Julia studied the barrier, her eyes narrowing in concentration. "What's your most flammable and explosive potion?" She asked, and turned to Carla.

"Erm… this one," She rummaged around in her bag, holding it up for her teammate. It was a smoky gray liquid that was thick and viscous.

Julia took a deep breath, calming herself. "Stay down. I… don't know what's going to happen." She plucked it from Carla's hands, then ran out of the car, towards the front. She steadied herself, gripping the bottle tightly, then threw it as hard as she could towards the roots. It sailed through the air until it finally collided with the plants, creating an incredibly large explosion that consumed the entire barrier in a matter of seconds. Carla winced; the heat rolling off the explosion made her uncomfortable, but Julia seemed fine, as she was used to it.

As the barrier and the jeep burned away, the men running the other way, the girls knew they were in the clear. Carla crawled out of the subway car, sitting on the edge as she watched the shadows of the flames dance on the walls. Julia sat down next to her, staying quiet as they saw the jeep burn.

"What if others come?" She whispered quietly, tucking her shirt brown hair behind her ear.

"Then we'll do the same thing. We have to keep ourselves safe," Carla declared. Now that they were out of danger, she was back to her calm self, but her sarcastic nature disappeared since she was still in her battle mindset.

Julia's eyes widened as she heard another noise down the tunnel, "They're coming!" She hissed, getting up.

Carla squinted at a blurry form racing down the tunnel, noticing at it was a strange orange color. "Is that… Roman?" The druidess gasped, then grinned. She saw the red headed teen, flaming like a human torch, speed down the hall. "That idiot! It is Roman!" Carla cheered, smiling as she leapt to her feet. "Get over here!" She called to him.

Roman, who was currently zooming down the tunnel, spotted the pair and slowed down, landing gently on the ground.

"What happened?!" The redhead exclaimed, seeing the battered and bruised train car, then glancing back at the burning vehicle.

"A machine gun and a jeep, long story. We'll fill you in later," Carla grunted, looking her teammate over. Roman's face was covered in cuts and bruises, and his mission suit was torn in several places. He looked like he got his ass kicked, but Carla admired that he was still chasing after the train.

Julia looked him over, whistling at his battered appearance. "But what happened to you? Last we saw, you were fighting Elle on the roof!" She raised an eyebrow.

"Long story. I'll tell you later. I have to catch up to that train. Jack and the others need me, they're dividing us. Just stay safe, okay? Last thing we need is for you to get hurt," Roman grunted before igniting himself and streaking off into the sky.

Julia cracked a small smile at him as he flew off, and Carla snickered.

"You're such a bad liar. I don't even know why you try," She scoffed, leaning against the side of the car. "You like him, don't you?"

"I don't like him. He's just… kinda cute." Julia shrugged, pouting at Carla. "Will you just drop it already?"

"Do you _just_ think he's cute? Pretty superficial, if you ask me." She snorted.

Julia huffed, blowing a strand of her hair out of her face. "That's not really it. I mean, do you see that?" She gestured to Roman, who was fading from view. "He's determined. He never stops going after what he wants, or what he believes is the right thing to do. He's really not that bad of a person." She sighed, pursing her lips. A silence filled the tunnel as the girls watched the crackling fire in front of them.

"Did you hear what happened to Travis a few days ago?" Julia suddenly asked.

"Yeah, from Avi. Can't believe we're at a school full of heroes and they decided to stoop so low. Travis is such a good person…" Carla sighed, gritting her teeth slightly.

"And Roman, the boy who picked on him the very first, stood up for him. He was able to put aside his personal problems, stood up for Travis, and did what was right. He's an admirable person, Carla, you can't deny it," the artist shrugged, then her lips turned upwards a bit as she continued, "He's an absolute jerk, but… he's got somewhat of a good heart."

Carla paused for a moment, considering Julia's words. "Yeah, I know. I'm glad… you can see past his exterior, and see the deeper person," She said softly, nodding at her teammate in approval. "The world needs more people like that."

"Yeah. Guess I just have a weird way of seeing the world and it's people. Unorthodox," Julia muttered quietly, crossing her arms as she watched the fire burn.

The girls were silent for a while, mulling over their thoughts until Julia spoke, "This was nice. I don't really talk to anyone on the team a lot, other than Gezie. It was nice to get my feelings out."

"Me too. We should do this more often," Carla breathed softly, giving a small smile to Julia. The slightly more comfortable silence that followed remained with them, as they thought over their relationships with their teammates.

 **Metropolis, Subway Station**

 **September 15**

 **2021**

"J-Jack…?" Travis whimpered softly, frowning at his friend. He could feel the confliction radiating off of Jack, and couldn't believe this was happening. The blond teen was actually considering Elle's offer.

Jack looked over to the empath, giving him an apologetic glance. Though he knew Travis couldn't see it, Jack knew the other teen could feel his apologetic feeling. Jack just couldn't decided what to do.

"Come on. You want to," Elle taunted as she smirked, "I know it."

That did it for Jack; the pressure and anger pent up inside him was let out with a loud scream. Elle's eyes, which were bright blue from using her powers, widened as Jack tackled her, denting the roof as they landed.

Jack glared at Elle, pinning her down so she couldn't blast him. "You don't know shit about me!" He snarled, eyes full of fury and hatred. He hated these conflicted feelings, these confusing thoughts. He would have never betrayed the team for her, but she made him doubt himself. Though it was just for a second, but that second mattered to him quite a bit.

He let out an angry roar, slamming his fist down at Elle. She just barely moved her head to the left to avoid getting her skull cracked. The metal Jack hit squealed and groaned upon contact, and his fist went all the way through.

Travis could feel Jack's fury in every bone of his body, and he couldn't help but take a fearful step back. He could feel Elle's fear now. She was convinced that this was no longer a fight to take the train cargo, rather it was a fight for survival now. She kicked both legs out to his chest, making him fly up and slam into the ceiling. Elle flared up her energy balls, but Jack pushed off the ceiling of the tunnel and slammed into her again.

The fight was back on, and Travis didn't know how to stop it. He had a feeling that by the time this was over, one of the two would be dead. He had a small sliver of a feeling it was going to be Elle.

Suddenly, the train screeched to a halt, and both of the combatants struggled to stay on their feet. They fell off the train, landing on the side of the subway.

Travis, who fell on the roof when the train stopped and had just barely held on, breathed a sigh of relief.

"J-Jack! They did it! They stopped the train." He called out to his comrade, stumbling to his feet.

Jack glanced at Travis, then gritted his teeth as he dodged an energy blast from Elle. He slammed a foot into her gut, and she stumbled back.

Nearby, the door to the subway slid open and Gezie, Raven, and Avi ran out, eyes widening when they saw the tough fight going on.

"Y-you need to help him! Somebody is g-going to end up d-dead!" Travis said worriedly, running over to his teammates.

"Right, Alpha Team, go!" Gezie called to the remaining team members, and they sprung into action. Elle didn't stand a chance. The tunnel may have been pitch black, but that gave Raven an advantage. He could only teleport through shadows and darkness, and the whole area was as dark as could be, giving him the upper hand.

He moved so fast that Elle couldn't even get a hand on him. Raven was everywhere at one time, landing hits with his metal Bo staff, one after another.

Gezie, on the other hand, was working the opposite. She was playing defense for the team; she kept any stray energy blasts from hitting Travis, as he gave the team strength, and the train as well as the cargo.

Elle couldn't see anything, and Raven's attacks always caught her by surprise. She was quickly put on defense, trying to protect herself from Jack and Raven's attacks.

It eventually got to the point where Elle was blocking attack after attack, all from three different sides.

Raven landed a hard punch to her jaw, and she went sprawling out onto the ground several feet away.

Elle glared up at him, staggering to her feet. "You're… playing with forces you can't control. Fighting a war you won't win. A war where surviving is the only glory." She snarled to them, then glared at Jack. "You can't play innocent forever." She hissed, then took off in the air.

Gezie stared at Elle, wide eyed, then looked back to her teammates. "I… don't think we should go after her. We can't follow someone that fast in the air."

"But there's enough shadows! I could go after her," Raven reasoned, narrowing his eyes at Elle's retreating figure. Gezie shook her head, "No. It's too risky, let's just do what we need for the mission: Get the cargo to the meeting point." She rubbed her temple with her good hand, then turned back to Raven. "However, we may just need you to teleport back down the tunnel to find the others and make sure they're okay."

"Aye, Captain." He saluted her, then literally melted into the shadows.

Gezie sighed; she was exhausted from fighting, but more so from leading her team. Making decisions that people's lives depended on was tough. She motioned for what remained of her team to get on the subway.

"All aboard." Avi muttered sarcastically as he walked into the train.

 **Metropolis, Subway Station**

 **September 15, 7:00 PM EST**

 **2021**

What remained of the Alpha team waited at the subway platform, fidgeting nervously. When they had arrived at the station, several crew members tasked with unloading the cargo had applauded them, calling them heroes for putting up such a fight against the attackers. Gezie had zoned out through it all. She merely wanted to go back to her dorm, shower, and watch a bit of TV.

Unfortunately Carla, Julia, Raven, and Roman still hadn't returned. Raven had texted her, saying that they were coming back to the station on another subway train. Gezie had been so relieved to hear most of them were alright, but was anxious to see Roman. According to Raven he had taken quite the beating from Elle.

Gezie flexed her wrist without thinking, then gripped it with a hiss. She had forgotten that she broke it, and let out a sigh. Travis frowned, hearing the hiss and feeling Gezie's pain.

"A-are you ok-okay?" The blind teen whispered to Gezie. The sandy blonde haired girl nodded, before remembering Travis was blind.

"Yeah. I'm fine," Gezie whispered back, slightly moving her wrist away from Travis.

"You didn't sound fine. D-do you want me to fix it?" The blind teen whispered, turning to her.

Gezie glanced at the ground, shrugging. "Could you?" She asked, looking up at him, and he nodded. Travis took her hand, straightening it out, and making her hiss in pain. He mumbled an apology, then took a deep breath as he began to use his powers. A warmth flowed through her hand, and Gezie relaxed a little as he alleviated the pain.

"Thanks," She nodded, flexing her wrist. She heard the whistle of a train that was approaching, and she visibly perked up. "They're coming," She smiled with a relieved sigh.

The subway pulled into the station, coming slowly to a stop. It took a few moments, but the doors slowly slid open, and Gezie sighed with relief when she saw her teammates alive. Carla stepped out first, her mission suit covered in dirt and grime, and tiny glass shards glittered in her hair. Raven followed, looking exhausted from the continuous use of his powers, but he managed to give his leader a tired smile. Then Roman stepped out, and Gezie gasped. He looked awful; bruises were already darkening on his face, cuts lacerated his chest and arms, with a few burns that scattered his body. His arm was wrapped around Julia Rothschild, who was also covered with dirt and had glass in her hair. Her arm was around his torso, supporting him as he limped forward. Gezie's eyes widened when she saw a fairly nasty burn on his thigh, Elle had gotten him good there.

"We got the cargo?" Roman mumbled tiredly, coming to a stop in front of the team.

"Yeah. We did it. We stopped them." Avi smiled a bit, glad their mission was a success.

Carla sighed, relieved at the information. "Then can we go home? I need to get the glass out of my hair."

Gezie nodded, "We completed our mission, everyone is safe, and we did our jobs. Good work all around." She smiled to them, then turned and began to walk through the subway station.

 **An: And there's the end of Episode 8! We really hope you enjoyed this mission, as we had a blast writing it. Congrats to Team Alpha for stopping that trainwreck(excuse the pun XD) of a mission! Again, I'm The One by Casey Lee Williams was the inspiration for many of the scenes during the missions.**

 **Alright, in Episode 9 we will be back to our normal 6-7,000 word chapters. This mission was simply too long for you all to fit into one chapter.**

 **Next episode will be more character development using the scene ideas you gave us! There, two Beta characters that haven't been seen too much will get their own scenes and character development!**

 **Finally, we'd like to do a big thank you to everyone who has, favorited, followed, reviewed, and PMed us on this story. Your feedback, advice, criticism, and praise really makes our day. That's really what motivates us to do better on our chapters and release them so fast. You all are wonderful and we love hearing from you so, so much! Thanks again! See you Next Friday!**

 **Sneak Peek for Next Episode: "How did this happen to you? Why are you so damaged?"**

 **~Questions~**

 **1\. What answers are you most looking forward to find out in later chapters?(What do you want to find out?)**

 **2\. What would your OC be for Halloween?**

 **3\. If one character were to die, who do you think it would be and why?**


	8. S1, Episode 8: Secure

**.**

 **How Far We've Fallen**

 **.x.x.x.x.x.**

 **Season 1, Episode 8**

 _~The YoungJusticeFangirls~_

 **The Academy, Alpha Dorm**

 **September 20, 08:00 A.M EST**

 **2021**

"O'Connell! Get up!"

Carla shot up from her bed to someone pounding on her door. She groaned tiredly, rubbing her blue eyes before stumbling to the door of her room. She wrenched it open sluggishly to find Jack Arsenault raising an eyebrow at her.

"What? Is there a mission? Do we need to save some people?" Carla yawned, pushing her brown hair out of her face. She grabbed a pair of dark brown sneakers by the door, shoving her feet inside. She quickly pulled her hair into a quick bun and slipped on a dark purple hoodie that was thrown near the door when she came home from school yesterday.

"There's no mission. Everything's fine," Jack chuckled, amused by how quickly she got ready. Judging by the dark circles under her eyes, it seemed Carla wasn't able to get a very good rest last night.

"Really? So no mission?" Carla deadpanned, narrowing her eyes at Jack. "What the hell did you even wake me up for?" She shook her head.

"Remember Combat Class a few weeks ago?" He raised an eyebrow, "I'm teaching you to fight."

Carla stared at him for a moment, remembering the class, then quickly slammed the door in his face. He stuck his foot out and stopped the door from closing all the way.

"C'mon, you need to learn how to fight so you can protect yourself on the battlefield!" Jack grunted, trying to force open the door.

"No way, Arsenault!" Carla growled, pushing against the door with all her strength. She stomped on the blond's foot, trying to get the door shut. "I'm fine using my potions and powers! I don't need to know how to do hand-to-hand combat!" She huffed, pressing against the door with her whole body weight.

Jack sighed once, then gave a more forceful push than Carla. She gasped sharply, stumbling back as he shook his head at her.

"See what I mean? You're not strong," He crossed his arms, leaning against the doorframe, "You should at least learn how to punch."

"Are you kidding me?" Carla's jaw dropped down, and she rolled her eyes, "You could probably stop a car with your bare hands! And you're calling me weak?"

Jack sighed; she was right, as usual. Sometimes he ended up forgetting his strength, though Jack lived for those moments. They helped him forget about his past, and made him feel… somewhat normal. As normal as he could be, anyways.

"Right, sorry. Sometimes I forget," Jack nodded, "Let's go." He gently grabbed her hand, so not to rip her arm off, and started dragging her out of her room despite Carla's protests. She stammered out excuses, digging her heels into the wooden floor so she could gain some traction, but that didn't help at all. Jack simply gave her hand a tiny tug, and she went flying out of her room.

"Why are you so against this?" Jack sighed, letting go. He wasn't amused by Carla's unenthusiastic response to learning hand to hand combat. "What would have happened if Julia had been hurt, and you had to fight those mercenaries hand to hand?" He glowered at her a little.

"I-I…. I guess we would have been dead," Carla shot back with a scoff. She turned back to her room, "Can't we do this next week? Or next year?"

"You are such a procrastinator. Our Defense Against the Mystical Arts Instructor gives you so many spells to learn, and you learn them all at the last minute. This time, you're not learning spells though. And I'm not letting you put this off," Jack pointed out, walking in front of her and blocking the doorway to her room.

"Fine. Okay," Carla huffed, crossing her arms, "Let's go already."

"Finally. I swear, convincing you to do anything takes an army," Jack muttered under his breath, heading for the door of the dorm. He wasn't as quiet as he liked to think, and Carla overheard it, giving him a glare.

* * *

Carla shivered a bit, stepping out into the crisp morning air. It was a cool morning in September, a little colder than she would have liked, but it wasn't anything to complain about. Instead of going to the training room like she thought they would, Jack had led her out to the top of the school. It was a grey, flat roof that overlooked the gardens, giving the pair a view of the sun peeking over the horizon.

"Wow…" Carla's eyes widened, seeing the gorgeous view being on the roof gave them. The orange hued rays kissed the petals of the vibrant magnolia flowers below, the soft light caressing everything it touched, and the rays brought warmth that Carla was thankful for.

"How did you discover this? How long have you known about this?" The curly haired girl whispered in shock, taking the beautiful view in.

"I discovered this spot on the roof when I first got to the Academy. It was just as stunning then as it is now," He mumbled, crossing his arms. "After a hard day of training, I'd go up here to calm down and be at peace. It's…my happy place, I guess."

Carla pursed her lips, nodding her head, "That's nice. I'm happy you found such a beautiful place."

Jack stretched a bit, raising an eyebrow at her, "Alright. Enough talking. Let's see what you got." He stood still, then motioned for her to come at him. Carla bit her lip slightly, clenched her fist, then threw a punch at Jack's chest with a grunt. It bounced off him harmlessly, and she stumbled back.

"Holy… what are you made out of? Steel?" Carla scoffed, shaking her hand a little to ease the sting of pain.

Jack sighed, shaking his head, "No. I'm not Superman. I just have muscles, and you don't. We have a lot of work to do if we want you to actually be able to punch. Let's start with your balance." He slipped into a stance, motioning for her to follow. "Your legs are supposed to be shoulder length apart, bend your knees slightly, and fists up."

Carla followed, haphazardly moving into a stance, but Jack shook his head the moment she did. "Your fists. Don't tuck your thumbs in. Keep them out." He rolled his eyes, taking her hand and showing her how to make a fist. "Have you ever actually punched someone?" He asked skeptically. He wouldn't have been surprised if she hadn't.

"I make potions. I cast spells. I don't physically fight." Carla snapped back, shooing him away.

"Spells won't get you out of every situation. You need to be able to fight hand to hand," Jack insisted, inspecting her stance. He nodded, satisfied with her position. "Punch me."

Carla growled, throwing another punch. "Jack. Don't argue with me. I can do so much with my spells and potions, it's crazy."

He allowed the punch to connect with his shoulder, and sighed tiredly, "So far I've only seen you move vines. You say you can do a lot, but I'm not positive." He nodding at the punch, "That was better. Now, throw a roundhouse kick. Use your hips and the heel of your foot."

She groaned in annoyance, then extended her leg, slamming it into his thigh. "I can do _so_ much more. I can turn into animals, summon crows, make fireballs," She shrugged, "The list goes on."

"That was better. I actually felt something. Felt like someone was pinching me, but I still felt something," Jack laughed, then he paused, a small feeling of worry bubbling up inside of him. "Did you say fireballs?"

"I'm not strong!" Carla made a frustrated noise at his teasing, then furrowed her brow at his strange question. "Yeah. I can. See?" She summoned a small fire ball in the palm of her hand. She had to admit though, she was not expecting his reaction.

Jack jumped back like Carla had summoned the devil instead of a small flame, and his breathing quickly increased in pace. He stumbled back, moving as far away from the fire as he could without falling over the edge of the roof. "K-Keep that away from me!" He yelled, obvious fear in his voice.

Carla immediately extinguished it, putting her hands out, trying to make him understand it would all be okay. "It's okay! Calm down! What's wrong?" She pleaded, taking a few steps towards him.

"Don't come any closer!" He commanded, his hands trembling as he raised them to defend himself. The look in his eyes reminded of a soldier who just came back from war. Then it clicked for her.

"You have emotional trauma," She whispered, her eyes widening. "You have a fear of fire. Why…. how… who did this to you?" She clenched her fists, struggling to keep her cool demeanor. Questions raced around in her head, and she struggled not to ask them all at once.

He took a deep breath, staring at Carla warily, like she might try to hurt him. He cleared his throat, obviously ashamed of showing his greatest weakness. "I… there was an accident. I went to a lab one day, and they tested the effect of fire of me. They wanted to see how it would work with my powers. The test… went wrong." His voice was barely a whisper as he ran his hand over his arm, and Carla noticed faint burn marks.

"I'm so sorry… I didn't know…" She reached a hand out to him, trying to comfort him. He flinched slightly, but allowed her to rest her hand gently on his shoulder. "How did this happen to you? Why are you so damaged?"

"I… don't want to talk about it," Jack winced. He hated feeling this weak. He hated being afraid of fire. During the training exercise against Roman a few weeks ago, he had noticed him using his powers. The fire Roman produced always made him freeze up, and he always took a hit. Jack was afraid that Roman or Carla had noticed his fear of fire, but his teammates didn't bring it up.

Carla felt a pang of sympathy in her gut. Then that sympathy boiled into anger. Of course, she didn't show it, but the anger was there. "Someday, we'll find whoever did this to you. The whole Alpha Team will make them pay for this." She gestured to the burns that stretched up his arms, the scowl on her face deepening as she began to piece things together. She knew Jack was only 18, and those scars looked years old. So someone must have injured him that badly when he was still a child. Who could even do that to a regular person, let alone a child? Carla couldn't figure it out.

"Just… don't. It doesn't make a difference. What's done is done. All I can do is somehow hope to move on and make everything better," He sighed, rising to his feet. "Let's go. I barely taught you anything, and we still have so much we need to cover today."

Carla sighed; they were back to the apathetic, driven Jack who only had his mind on his goal. She figured he would open up to her when he was ready, and was prepared to wait that long. "Fine," She grumbled begrudgingly, then slipped into a stance. Jack motioned for her to attack, and their sparring session was back on.

 **The Academy, Mechanics Shop**

 **September 20, 10:00 A.M EST**

 **2021**

Avi hummed as he grabbed a monkey wrench that was next to him, then tightened a few bolts on the engine. He was in the mechanics and engineering classroom of the Academy, working on his new motorcycle. After the mission the team had realized they needed better transportation. Roman and Raven were the only ones who could really transport themselves places with their powers, so Travis had suggested Avi build a few motorcycles for the team. They boys had created the blueprints over a few snacks and some smoothies in the cafeteria, then Avi had spent the past few days working on the engine of the prototype. Travis had occasionally come in to help, but he had spent the last two days healing the team's injuries from the mission.

"Almost finished with the engine," the black haired boy mumbled to himself.

"Hey kid!" A gruff voice called, and Harvard stepped into the back room. Avi gave a small yelp of surprise. The teen sighed, putting down his tools and turning away from the machine.

"Yeah?" Avi asked, getting up and spotting a roll of blueprints in Harvard's hand.

The dark skinned man eyed the motorcycle, "Nice ride." Harvard grunted, gesturing to it.

"Uh, thanks," Avi shifting awkwardly as he looked down at his newest project.

Harvard held out the rolled up blueprints, saying, "Here. Luthor wants this done in two weeks, or else he's not going to be happy."

Unrolling the prints, Avi's eyes widened,"He wants all these weapons done?" The seventeen year old asked, biting his lip as he looked over them.

Harvard shrugged and told Avi, "Well, at least the first page of them." Avi nodded, plopping down on a seat as he looked over the weapons.

"So, you made it on Alpha Team?" Harvard grunted, crossing his arms. Avi nodded, listing the tools he would need to make the weapons in his head.

The older male narrowed his eyes, watching the teen think, and mentally create the weapons. They were left in silence for awhile, until Harvard simply asked, "How?" Avi didn't respond, stuck in his thoughts.

"You still here?" Harvard prompted, raising an eyebrow and snapping his fingers in front of the teen's face. Avi's head snapped up from the blueprints, and flushed a bit as Harvard gave him a full, bored gaze.

"Yeah. I'm here," Avi cleared his throat and said, "Uh, how what?"

"How'd a runt like you make it onto the Alpha Team? The top dogs?" Harvard clarified, genuinely curious.

Avi opened his mouth to explain, but closed it. Sighing, the teen mumbled, "I don't really know. I didn't expect to actually make it. Instinct just kicked in, and I dove behind the bleachers." Harvard scoffed, sneering a bit, "So that's how you survived to the very end." There was a moment of silence before Harvard commented, "We both know Luthor expects you on Omega so you can focus on making weapons. He was already tentative about letting you be a student instead of staff." Avi nodded at the words.

Running a hand through his already messy black hair, Avi confessed, "I didn't think I'd make it to Beta, let alone Alpha. I thought Luthor was going to make me staff...why didn't he?"

Harvard shrugged, not really sure himself. "I don't know, Luthor makes the decisions, we just follow them," the twenty nine year old pointed out, "So stop questioning, and just follow them." Avi nodded sharply, going back to looking at the blueprints. Harvard turned to leave, but stopped, "Oh right," he sighed to himself.

"Kid, we're supposed to go over what your 'backstory' is," Harvard informed, taking a long drink from his flask.

The inventor sighed; a lot of what he had told his teammates was completely true, but had he been completely honest? No. He wasn't sure Luthor knew that he had made Alpha Team, the man _was_ Lex Luthor after all and was extremely busy, but if he did know he would make sure that Avi told the team nothing of his origins.

"I think I trust the Alpha Team enough to tell them, and I mean, and I hope they trust me enough to," Avi said hopefully, fiddling with the papers.

Harvard chuckled darkly, "Kid, I'd be careful who you trust on that team. Some of them have less than...admirable intentions," He shook his head, "But we're not giving you a fake backstory to earn the rest of your team's trust. This time it's for your own safety."

"My safety? How could where I come from bring harm to me?" Avi frowned nervously, this could mean bad news for him.

"Some people aren't a big fan of Luthor and the people who work for him, despite all the good he's trying to do," He said dryly. When he noticed Avi's confused expression, he sighed, "We know about the arrow someone shot at you. We know there was an attempt on your life."

"How?" His voice turned a bit shrill, and his mouth dropped open. He was so confused, the team had kept the murder attempt utterly secret. No one but the team knew. Unless…. "There's… mole. On the team. Isn't there?" His voice was hoarse.

"You can bet your bottom dollar there is," Harvard laughed, crossing his arms, "Before you ask, no, I won't tell you who it is. That would compromise their position and our position as well. However, I will tell you your new backstory!" The man smirked at him, pulling out another roll of papers from his back pocket and pressed them into Avi's hand.

The inventor didn't even look at the papers his Combat teacher handed him, he simply stared straight ahead, trying to connect the dots. There was a mole on the team, feeding Luthor everything they were finding out about Elle and her friends. Avi couldn't decided whether he should tell Gezie and Jack or not. But what if Gezie was the mole? She seemed so nice, but maybe that was all just an act. Maybe she was leader because she was working for Luthor, and then he could control the whole team through her.

But what about Jack? Avi remembered Elle mocking him, revealing that they both came from the same place. And, Jack _was_ Luthor's poster boy. But Roman's case was nagging at him from the back of his mind. The boy was so mysterious and unwilling to tell others about himself and his origins, perhaps he was hiding his status as the spy?

"Don't give yourself a brain hemorrhage thinkin' about this kid," Harvard laughed loudly, yanking Avi out of his thoughts. He clapped the tall boy on the back, and turned to leave. "And don't go poking your nose around. You can't protect yourself, you're relatively easy to kill, so it wouldn't be hard to get you out of the picture." With that statement, Harvard chuckled again as he strode out of the room. The door closed with an ominous bang, leaving Avi alone with his thoughts.

 **The Academy, Alpha Team Dorm**

 **September 20, 11:00 A.M EST**

 **2021**

Gezie pursed her lips, pausing the video she was watching, then rewinding it. All that morning she had been watching the security feed of the mission from a few days ago on her laptop, trying to track the men who had attacked the train. She had even called Ana over to the dorm earlier to discuss the incident, and the journalist was on her way over right now.

She groaned in frustration, rubbing her forehead. This whole situation was stressing her out. First an assassination attempt on a LexCorp employee, then a murder attempt against the Alpha Team, now an attack on the cargo train they were supposed to protect? Gezie couldn't figure out why everything led back to Elle. It was _always_ Elle.

"Whatcha doin'?" A loud voice yelled from behind her.

Gezie screamed, jumping up from her spot on the couch, and slamming the laptop closed. She paused, then groaned as she realized who it was.

"Ooh! Whatcha watchin'? Something you're not supposed to?" Catori White teased, popping up from behind the back of the couch, and giving the leader of team Alpha a toothy grin.

"N-No. Something you're not supposed to see," Gezie retorted hotly, "What are you even doing here, Cat? Don't you have school?"

Cat smirked at her triumphantly, leaping agilely over the back of the couch and plopping down onto the cushions, "I escaped. That Genevieve lady got me a private tutor, since I'm too young and all to take classes, but I didn't like the tutor. So I left!"

"You…skipped class?" Gezie deadpanned, sighing. This girl was a wild child, no doubt about it. How did Travis survive? He was an angel, that's for sure.

"Yup! I skip _all_ my classes. They can't keep track of me, and it's fun!" She giggled, then peered around the living room of the dorm, "Where's my bow? I left in on the kitchen table this morning because Genevieve said I couldn't bring it. She's so… annoying. And overbearing," Cat complained, sprawling out on the couch dramatically.

"Travis moved your bow. And I think she's motherly and she cares about you. I think she's wonderful," Gezie chided lightly with a tired sigh, "Move over. You're taking up all the space."

"Now you're starting to _sound_ like her. It's bad enough Travis acts like my mom, I don't need you and Genevieve acting like my mom too," Catori pouted at her, then reluctantly sat up and scooted over.

"Whatever," Gezie rolled her eyes, relaxing against the cushions. Suddenly, a bring flash to her right appeared and the little girl screamed in surprise. Genevieve appeared next to her, and Gezie stared at the medic with wide eyes. "What the…" The ink manipulator trailed off, shaking her head.

"Sorry if I scared you, I had to find _that_ one," Genevieve pointed to Catori, with a disapproving glare.

"You know, Genevieve, it's really quite rude to point," Cat batted her eyelashes innocently, then stuck out her tongue teasingly.

Genevieve crossed her arms and sighed, "Miss White, please come with me. Your tutor is waiting for you so you can finish your lessons."

Catori shook her head, "No way Genevieve! I don't like Mr. What's-his-face, he's strict and boring," the nine year old declared, standing on the couch.

Genevieve pursed her lips, putting up a finger as she said, "First of all, his name is Mr. Rossi. Two, I happen to think he's very fun. Three, couches are _not_ for standing, so either sit down or stand on the floor."

"That's cause you probably have a crush on him," Catori taunted, not moving from her position on the couch. She grinned devilishly, beginning to bounce up and down lightly.

"I do _not._ Now get down," She snapped, rubbing her forehead.

Gezie, who observed the whole thing, raised an eyebrow at the medic, " How do you do it? How do you put up with all these kids and still manage to act all nice and motherly?"

"I...don't know. I've always had an affinity for children, and wanted my own. I suppose I just got used to their antics," She laughed lightly, "I only wish I could have my own."

"Twenty-five is still young. You can still have kids if you ever wanted," Gezie assured her hopefully. Genevieve's face fell, her eyes saddening as she informed quietly, "I mean...I _can't_ even if I tried."

"Oh...I'm so sorry," Gezie said, her lightly tanned face giving the older woman an apologetic look. Catori scrunched up her nose, jumping up and sitting as she came down, "What do you mean you can't?" The nine year old asked, frowning in confusion.

Genevieve shook her head, "Nothing. Now c'mon, Mr. Rossi is waiting."

Catori groaned, flopping over and burying her face in the pillows on the couch. "I don't wanna!" The dark skinned girl whined.

Gezie rolled her eyes, poking Catori's side, "Get up Cat."

Genevieve chuckled at the sight, "Ah, well...I didn't want to have to do this but," the twenty-five year old grinned and suddenly picked Catori up in a fireman's hold and began to tickle her.

The nine-year old squealed and laughed, "No, let me go!" Gezie smirked devilishly at Cat, got up from her seat on the couch, and began to tickle the little girl as well.

"Put me down!" Cat giggled, kicking her legs. Genevieve laughed, then shifted Catori to hold her princess style as Gezie snickered at the scene.

"No can do, little Cat," Genevieve hummed, "You have to go back to your lessons with Mr. Rossi."

"Ugh! I don't want to," Catori protested, wiggling in the woman's grip. "Mr. Rossi is boring and dull! The only thing good about him is that he's _cute!_ " Genevieve rolled her eyes. "Dan- I mean, Mr. Rossi is not boring or dull," the young woman chastised, "You shouldn't say that."

Catori stopped squirming, a smirk creeping across her face, "You almost called him by first name _and_ didn't argue about him being cute!"

"Most adults are on first-name basis, and yes, I can admit to Mr. Rossi being cute. Though it _doesn't_ mean I have _romantic_ feelings for him," Genevieve reasoned, flicking Catori's nose gently.

Gezie ruffled Catori's hair, stage-whispering to her, "Me thinks someone has a crush."

The nine year old nodded with a mock-serious expression, "I agree!""Now girls, don't rush to conclusions. It's not right," Genevieve sighed, though a tint of pink ran across her light cheeks. Gezie and Catori shared a look, smiling at each other.

"Speaking of crushes, Gezie, I heard in the hall that there's going to be a dance in a few weeks. Are you taking someone?" Catori giggled, mischief sparkling in her eyes.

Gezie raised an eyebrow; she knew better than to answer _that_ question. "I don't know yet… I haven't given it much thought," She remarked vaguely.

"Yes, even if you don't go with someone, you should still take the Alpha Team. It would be good for press if the rest of the world sees the best team in the school at the dance," Genevieve pointed out, arching a perfect brow.

Rolling her eyes, the teacher said firmly, "Now, now, Catori we really must get you back to Mr. Rossi to finish your lessons."

"Do we _have_ to?" Catori groaned, going limp, her head lolling a bit.

"Yes, we _have_ to," Genevieve sighed back. Nodding to Gezie the twenty-five year old said with a slight smile, "Well, I will see you later Miss Leclerc."

"See ya, Ms. LaRoux," the teen grinned, "Good luck with the whiny Cat."

"You offend me," Catori huffed in a dramatic voice before she and Genevieve disappeared in a flash of light.

* * *

A few minutes after they left, Ana stepped into the room, asking, "You wanted to see me O' mighty Team leader?" She mocked with a smirk.

Gezie jumped a bit, spinning to face the other teen. Sighing, the sandy blonde teen nodded, "Yeah, I need you to investigate something."

"I usually don't like to, but I assume it has something to do with your little mission five days ago?" Ana drawled, leaning against the doorway. Gezie's eyes widened in surprise, "How did you know about it? Ms. LaRoux told us it was classified."

The journalist shrugged, crossing her arms, "I have my ways. Now, what about it do you want me to investigate?"

Gezie, sighing, started to state her request, "I want to know what business the mission was for and what the cargo was, and who exactly was receiving that cargo. It had to be important for Elle to have tried to hijack the mission. I also want to know, who the other were that attacked us."

"You have any video feed or…?" Ana trailed off, gesturing a bit. Gezie started to speak, but Ana held up a hand saying, "No. Nevermind, I can find it myself." The seventeen year old sighed and asked, "Any other information you need dug up?"

"No...thank you for doing this, Ana," Gezie said, shaking her head.

Ana scoffed, shoving her hand in her pockets, "Don't thank me yet. I haven't got any information, and I might not. Even with my sources, there's no telling how classified this stuff is," Ana warned, before continuing, "I have my, ahem, _totally_ legal methods, but there are pieces of information I just _can't_ get." Gezie nodded and sighed, "Got it." There was a beat of silence before Ana pivoted, her loose ringlets of hair bouncing a bit as she left the Alpha dorm.

 **The Academy, Beta Team Dorm**

 **September 20, 11:30 A.M. EST**

 **2021**

Raven grunted as he plopped on the Beta team's couch. He'd went over to share a funny story with Phoebe, but she was out somewhere, or at least that's what Jace had told him. Kian walked by, towards the door, some music under his arm as he trudged past.

"Hey!" Raven called to the stocky teen, spotting the music sheets as they traveled past him. Kian stopped, looking over at Raven. The nineteen year old waven a bit, greeting Raven, "Hi."

He sat up a bit, glancing curiously at the boy, "Kian, right?" Raven asked as he stood up and went over to the taller kid.

"Yeah, and you're Raven," Kian affirmed, subtly shifting the music to hide it. The silver eyed teen nodded, and hummed, "So...where are you going?"

"The music room," the blue eyed teen grunted. Raven nodded, crossing his arms with a friendly grin as he questioned, "Would ya mind some company?" Kian shrugged, starting to walk again, "You can come if you want to." The silver eyed teen gave a goofy smile as he followed, "So what're you gonna practice in the music room?"

"Music," Kian replied flatly, shuffling the papers a bit.

A laugh bubbled out of Raven, "So you _do_ have a sense of humour!" He could tell that Kian wasn't a very friendly and warm guy. That just meant it was up to him to thaw him out and make a friend out of him. Raven was positive he could do it.

The pair walked out of the dorm, heading to the school. Raven did most of the talking, though Kian spoke up a bit every once in awhile.

* * *

Almost right after they left, Travis walked into the dorm. David, who had just come out from his room, scrubbed at some paint he'd gotten on his face.

"Hi Travis. What are you doing here?" The teen asked, curiosity shining in his brown eyes as he momentarily stopped scrubbing.

"Huh? O-oh, I'm looking for R-Raven," Travis stuttered, fidgeting a bit, "We have an English project to work on."

David hummed, nodding as he scrubbed at a paint spot, "Well, I think I heard his voice. He was looking for Phoebe, but I think he went with Kian to the music room." The blind boy nodded, biting his lip. "Is there anything else you need?" David asked, a pale hand subconsciously coming up to brush his slightly longer than normal hazel hair back. Travis shook his head, but thought a bit before asking, "Wh-when do you think they b-be back?" The artist shrugged, "No idea. Hey, think you could help me with an art project?"

"U-uh, sure. I'll try," Travis mumbled in response, though it seemed like he was talking to the floor. Grinning, David started to drag Travis to his room excitedly, "Great! You don't need to do much. I just need a model for this. Mrs. Ellis said we needed to sketch someone we think is interesting."

Travis' pastel lavender eyes widened a bit, "Y-you...you think _I'm_ interesting?"

"Well of course!" David scoffed, shutting his dorm door, "You _save_ lives. What would happen if someone were to get badly injured and you weren't there? Maybe they'd live. Maybe they'd die. You'd be the deciding factor in that." He said pointedly

Travis blushed a little, "I-I'm not as important as Jack, Julia, or Roman… they're the tanks of the team. And Carla and Avi are our brains… Raven and Gezie are the glue that hold it all together." He shrugged.

"Of course you are. You're the heart, Travis. You're pure, and the team would probably fall apart without you. You're their medic, _and_ their friend. I think that's pretty important to them." David smirked at him softly, "Don't underestimate yourself. That's the worst thing someone as important as you can do."

"I-I can't help it… it's hard to feel like a useful member to the team when you can't fight, or your powers can't really be used offensively." He mumbled.

"You know, I can see why you and Avi are becoming such great friends. You both have something in common: lack of confidence," David rolled his eyes, then shrugged. "Me? I'm as confident in my powers and abilities as I can be." He smiled brightly.

"What exactly c-can you do?" Travis asked curiously, getting strong feelings of pride from his artist friend.

"You'll see. Let me show you!" He grinned excitedly, then swiftly moved over to the tall mirror in his bedroom that was propped up against the wall. He lifted his foot up, then kicked the center of the mirror once. A crack spiderwebbed across the glass, making Travis flinch.

"Wh-what did you do that for? You broke your mirror!" He cried softly.

"Ready for this?" David whispered eagerly. He sounded a bit...odd. A little too eager. If Travis hadn't been so nice, he would have thought David was slightly off his rocker. Travis cocked his ear towards the artist, listening intently, then heard the scraping of the shards as they suddenly came together. The mirror's fractures and fissures suddenly disappeared as Travis ran a hand across it's surface.

"You...healed the glass?" Travis breathed, pursing his lips. Then realization hit him. "You can control glass, can''t you?"

"Yeah! It's pretty awesome, especially for creating glass sculptures and other art. Wouldn't you agree?" He said proudly. Travis nodded once, feeling a bit inferior that his ability wasn't as cool as David's.

The artist took a small bow, "Thank you, thank you so much! Now, time to get back to art!" He said it reverently, and Travis gathered that David was extremely devoted to his passion."C'mon now, I want to see a pose that strikes people as...thoughtful." The boy prompted, and Travis smiled slightly as the shorter teen guided him to the perfect pose.

"Perfect," the artist grinned, taking out his sketch book. "Now, just a warning, this may take a long time so if you need to move tell me." Travis gave a slight thumbs up, and David went to work as his pencil flew across the page.

 **The Academy, Music Room**

 **September 20, 12:00 P.M.**

 **2021**

Kian and Raven chatted a bit as they walked, though it was mostly Raven who kept the conversation going. The shorter, silver eyed teen was going on about a 'small' prank, that turned into a huge prank war.

"Of course I didn't see a pie to the face coming, so I was finally out and she won!" The silver eyed teen huffed as they stopped in front of the music room, "It was a pretty low trick y'know." Kian nodded, though it didn't seem like it he was listening.

Raven raised an eyebrow, giving him an annoyed look, "Are you even paying attention?" He deadpanned

"Yes," He snorted, rolling his eyes," It's too bad you didn't win the Prankster of the Year Award," the stocky, muscular boy commented to let Raven know he had been listening. Raven nodded as they entered the music room. He stuffed his hands in his pockets before looking around.

"Wow, there are a lot of instruments in here," Raven pointed out, gesturing to the stands and instruments around the room. There were rows of expensive violins, perfectly polished cellos, and a whole glass case dedicated to wind instruments. There were also a set of risers for the choir. Chuckling, the silver eyed teen said, "Guess I'm Captain Obvious. Of course there are a lot of instruments, it's the music room."

"Yeah," Kian sighed, ordering his papers. There was a moment of silence before Raven cleared his throat and asked, "So...what _are_ you going to practice here?"

"Piano...I have to learn it as an elective class. We need one elective to graduate, and Piano class is mine," Kian muttered, starting to walk again. There was a beautiful grand piano near the back, and the nineteen year old headed to it to set up his music.

Raven nodded in agreement, "It is a nice instrument. I, uh, I play a little."

"Really?" Kian asked, raising an eyebrow as he studied Raven. He had to be honest, Kian didn't peg Raven as the type of guy who played a classical instrument. He thought Raven would be more into rock like he was. After all, the guy did wear shirts of famous Rock bands all the time.

"How about you show me what you got?" Kian asked, scooting over a bit on the bench and gesturing to the grand piano.

Raven scoffed, smirking as he plopped down next to Kian, "Anytime dude." He started slowly, sight reading one of the sheets that was part of a duet. Kian nodded in respect. "Pretty good," the taller boy hummed before tentatively joining as the second part.

Raven glanced at Kian, a challenge in his eyes as he said, "Bet I can do this better than you."

"Bring it on," Kian smirked back, picking up the pace. The two had grins on their face as they played the grand piano.

After a while, the older boy got stuck at a tougher passage his piano teacher assigned to him, then groaned in frustration. He lazily banged his hands on the keys, creating a cacophony of sound, and Raven winced a little.

"Here, let me," The silver eyed boy quickly guided Kian's fingers to the right keys, making him cringe away a bit. "Take it nice and easy. Slow down, Kian. You'll have this passage in no time," He chirped, giving him a small smile.

"How did you get this good?" Kian's eyes watched as his hands ghosted across the instrument, looking like he wasn't even touching it, but beautiful music rising from it's insides. ' _He truly is a phantom,'_ He thought, his eyes marveling at how his hands ghosted across the keys.

"Years of practice. Whenever life stressed me out, or I was feeling a bit down, I'd just go play piano or teleport around the city and do parkour. It was my… getaway stuff. Things I'd do to distract from the harshness of reality," Raven exhaled softly, studying the sheet music intently as the music took a slower and sadder turn.

"Really? I know how you feel. Life got… pretty rough for me too," Kian muttered quietly, no longer playing the instrument in front of him, instead tapping a rhythm out on the side of it. He couldn't think of a time at this school when Raven hadn't seemed happy and excited, so it was weird to see a new side to him. Kian hadn't thought that there was anything deeper than what Raven showed, but obviously there was.

"Yeah. When I was bouncing around from foster home to foster home with my sis', this used to cool me off whenever I got sad," He shrugged.

"Foster home? Don't you have parents?" Kian wondered, genuinely curious about Raven's homelife now. He saw his face contort in pain, and the music he was making faltered for a moment. "You know what? Nevermind. It was… stupid question. Just teach me how to play this passage," Kian shook his head, not wanting to ruin their budding friendship. Raven nodded solemnly, then a smile slipped onto his face. If one were to look close enough, like Kian did in that moment, they could notice it was forced in a way.

The music they were working on resumed again, as the duet began to take spent seconds, that turned into minutes, that turned into a hour in the music room, playing side by side on the piano. Music floated through the room, its beauty and sweetness only witnessed by the two teens making it.

 **The Academy, Alpha Dorms**

 **September 20, 1:00 P.M.**

 **2021**

"Ninety-eight, ninety-nine…" Roman grunted, doing sit-ups on the floor of the living room. He winced, his hand flying down to his stomach. After the mission had ended, Gezie insisted that the Alpha Team's medic check him out. Travis' verdict was that Roman had gotten a cracked rib, and had somehow managed to power through his injury and continue to fight Elle.

Roman sighed, then shrugged. There was just one more sit up, so he laid back down. "One-hundr-" While he was finishing up, there was a stabbing pain in his stomach that he couldn't ignore anymore. Roman stumbled to his feet, hissing in pain. He gently rubbed his midsection, letting a string of loud explicatives fly as he realized that he had hurt it again.

"Travis is going to have to heal this _again,_ " He grumbled, rolling his eyes.

One of the doors to his left that connected to the main hall swung open, and Julia popped her head out. Her hair and face was splattered in paint from her latest project, and she scowled at Roman.

"Do you mind? Some of us are actually trying to be productive," She snapped. Julia hated when people interrupted her artistic thoughts and ruined her inspiration. Her keen eyes zeroed in on the sweat beads on Roman's forehead, and the discomfort on his face. She immediately reached a conclusion, and glared at him. "Seriously? Yesterday you hurt your ribs doing squats. Now you're doing sit ups? When are you going to learn to take it easy?" She huffed.

"I need to get stronger to beat Elle," The firey red head retorted defensively. Roman didn't like not being the strongest one on the team, but now with Elle being able to beat him, he was going to work even harder to build that muscle.

"But you're hurting yourself! That's not healthy, Roman," Julia protested, worry creasing her face, "The rest of the team will agree with me."

"So what? No one ever got anything done staying in their comfort zone," Roman scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"But it's not… fine. You know what? If you want to hurt yourself, go ahead. I won't stop you," Julia grumbled, turning around and heading back into her room.

"Why do you even care? You shouldn't. _None_ of you should care," Roman threw his hands up in frustration. He just didn't understand. People didn't care about him, not like the team.

"I care because I'm your teammate. Get used to me caring, because it's not going away," Julia said defiantly.

"You're really that stubborn, huh?" Roman scowled at her, shaking his head as he went into the kitchen and opened the fridge.

"Yeah, I am. And so is the rest of the team. We're not going to let anything bad happen to you, whether you like it or not. We're your _friends_. So get used to letting people into your life," Julia shook her head, slowly floating into the kitchen and leaning up against the wall.

Roman shot her a glare as he rummaged inside of the fridge, bringing out a bottle full of a protein shake, "Fine. But I still need to get stronger. I'm thinking Jack would be able to help. You've seen him, the dude is ripped!" He snorted.

Julia's frown deepened in concern; she had heard the conversation on the train with everyone. She had agreed with the others that something was fishy with Jack's muscle mass, and she knew that Roman knew that too. What if his methods were illegal? Was Roman really willing to break the law to beat Elle? Was he really so afraid of losing? Julia knew the answer to the last question was 'yes'. According to Carla, he had been so afraid to lose to Jack in Combat class that he cheated by using his powers, and he had been so afraid to lose to Elle that he hadn't given up fighting her, even though it meant that he became heavily injured.

"I… don't think that's the best idea," Julia shifted uncomfortably, slowly walking towards him, "Maybe you should look into his methods a bit more."

Roman frowned, furrowing his brows as he sipped his protein shake, "I guess so. It is pretty fishy…" He trailed off.

"We can both do it while you _rest_ and _recover_ ," Julia said pointedly, her gaze daring him to tell her otherwise, "You're strong enough without anything else to put up a fight against Elle."

"You really think so?" Roman laughed, giving her a smirk.

"I know so," Julia snickered, then stuck her tongue out playfully, "Though, you'll never be strong enough to fight me."

Roman arched a brow, then cracked his knuckles, "Wanna prove that?" He grinned, setting his drink down on the table, then shrugging off a hoodie.

"Hell yeah! You're gonna lose, Polaris," Julia snorted, pulling her short brown hair into a messy ponytail to get it out of her face. Roman slipped into a boxing stance just as Julia lunged forward with a punch.

* * *

 **AN: Yo! It's the Fangirls, back with another chapter! This one was all about character development and sowing the seeds for friendships down the line. Hope y'all enjoyed~ We worked pretty hard on getting these character interactions :)**

 **As you can see Jack is helping Carla with combat, Catori and Genevieve have bonded, and Raven and Kian have a budding friendship that will be explored in several chapters. However, you know our Plot Queen loves her plot development, so now it's been revealed that Jack has emotional trauma, Gezie and Ana are hunting Elle down, and Avi discovered there's a freaking mole on the team. You may be wondering, 'Man, can't Team Alpha just get a break for once?' Nope! They shall not get a break, because we are 1 Episode away from the season finale. I'd be excited if I were you ;)**

 **As an announcement, Plot Queen Quinn won't be answering PMs this week. She had a seriously rough week and is on FanFiction hiatus, but with help from the girls was able to help out with this chapter. So don't expect PMs from her.**

 **Another thing, after last week's episode, we received… some very panicked PMs about character deaths. Some people were concerned with the questions we were asking, and that we might kill someone off in the Season Finale. Well, wonder no more, here are your answers. No one is dying. Yet. People will die, after all, this** _ **is**_ **a school for heroes. There are several characters we are planning to kill, but it's all tentative. It doesn't matter if you're the most minor character ever or one of our mains. We asked whether you were okay with your character being killed off on the sheet for a reason. Bottom line is: No one is safe in this story.**

 **Next chapter will be pretty long, and will have quite a few things you should pay attention to. If your Beta team character wasn't shown in this episode, they will be in the next one. So don't miss it. It sets up our finale. Also, Season 2 is officially all planned out! Woohoo!**

 **Constructive criticism is always welcome, we want to write this story to your likings! Well, tell us what you thought and please answer the questions as quickly as possible, either in PM or reviews~!**

 **Thanks for reading ;) And see you next Friday!**

 _ **Sneak Peek for next Episode:**_ "Alright ladies! I know what we need! A girl's night out! Isn't this exciting?"

 **~Questions~ (Sorry, there's a lot this time…)**

there anyone or anything you'd like to see more of in this story?

2\. Who do _you_ think is the mole? Who does your _OC_ think is the mole?

3\. On a night out with their friends, what would your OC be doing?

4\. Who would your OC ask to dance? Or be their date to a dance?


	9. S1, Episode 9: Painting the Town

**How Far We've Fallen**

 **.x.x.x.x.x.**

 **Season 1, Episode 9**

 _~The YoungJusticeFangirls~_

 **The Academy, English Class**

 **September 25, 01:00 P.M EST**

 **2021**

Avi Redhawk drummed his fingers nervously against the wooden desk he was sitting at, trying his best to pay attention. Usually English class captured his attention, but not today. Today, questions raced around his head, and it was driving him crazy. All week long, his talk with Harvard had been killing him. He was dying to know who exactly was feeding Luthor information and why, but was starting to accept the fact that he may never find out.

Then another question popped up. Should he tell Gezie what was going on? Of course, the possibility of _her_ being the mole was still there, but Avi had decided it was a pretty slim chance. But who else could he confide in? He was now considering Julia and Carla as possible spies as well, leaving only Gezie as someone to trust in.

Avi had never felt more paranoid in his life than he did now.

"Uh, Avi? You good there? You look a bit like a zombie…" Gezie's voice pulled him out of his thoughts.

The inventor met Gezie's worried gaze, giving her a small nod, "Yeah. Everything is fine." He yawned a bit. He rested his cheek on his hand, glancing out the wide window that was next to him, and getting a glimpse at his reflection. He really did look like a zombie. His jet black hair stuck up in several places; he obviously hadn't brushed his hair when he woke up this morning. His t-shirt and jeans were rumpled, looking like he pulled them out of the hamper, and dark circles rimmed his brown eyes.

"No, you're not fine. You've had five sleepless nights in a row, and I know you don't have insomnia like me. Talk to me. What's on your mind?" Gezie murmured softly, leaning towards him.

Avi took a deep breath, internally debating whether or not to let Gezie know there was a mole on the team. Glancing at the teacher, who had her back turned on them, writing on the blackboard, before leaning towards Gezie.

"There's something that's been...bothering me," Avi muttered back, glancing around cautiously. Gezie nodded, silently gesturing for him to continue. "I found out...there's a mole on the team. Telling Luthor everything that's going on." The last part came out in a rush, Gezie barely catching it as it was said so quietly and quickly.

Her blue eyes widening, Gezie frowned at the news.

"How do you know this?" The Alpha team's leader whispered a bit harshly, brows furrowing.

Avi bit his lip and shook his head, "I can't really tell you, but I do know for sure, there's a mole on the team...and it could be anyone."

Gezie sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose, "Who exactly told you this? Be honest with me."

"I...can't tell you," Avi's hands curled into a fist, and his gaze dropped downwards, "I promised to keep it confidential."

"No, Avi, you don't understand. This is important. You can't just drop a bomb on me and then withhold information," She hissed, her eyes narrowing into slits, "I trust you. I trust you a lot. Don't play with my faith in you by keeping secrets."

"I-I just can't. Would it really make a difference of who told me?" He growled, leaning across the aisle between the row of desks.

"It makes all the difference! What if this person is working with them? What if they're lying? What if...they know other things?" Gezie's voice dropped down to a whisper as she gazed intently at him. Her mind wasn't really on the mole anymore, she was thinking about Elle again. Gezie knew she had to find Elle, and quick, before the assassin struck again, maybe hurting more of her teammates.

"Fine…" Avi ran a hand through his hair, "But you absolutely can't tell anyone." Gezie nodded sharply. Sighing, the dark haired teen informed, barely audible, "It was...Ana." He lied. He couldn't just tell her about his conversation with Harvard, or why he was really at this school. So he did the most natural thing in this situation: he lied.

Gezie's eyes widened, "Wait...Ana?" She whispered. It was plausible, the girl did know practically everything that went on at this school, "Okay. I'm...going to figure this out. Don't tell anyone." She was already making plans in her head to get the details of this problem out of Ana after school.

"We're going to hide this from them? What happened to not keeping secrets?" Avi scoffed, a bit bitterly.

"This is for the good of the team. We don't need anyone paranoid, or our mole telling Luthor that we know. Keep quiet. We're going to figure this out, because I don't think Ana was lying," Gezie mumbled, then turned her attention back to her English class teacher.

"Whatever you say," He sighed, before trying to find his place in his school work.

 **The Academy, Alpha Dorm**

 **September 25, 02:45 P.M EST**

 **2021**

"Listen. I'm not saying that you can't go to the dance. All I'm saying that I don't think _I_ will," Carla huffed as the girls walked down the hall of the dormitory building. "I'm not one for parties, Julia. I'm going to stick to my books, and eventually everyone else can have fun at the dance."

"Oh yeah, I forgot, you're an introvert. Well guess what? Me too, and I'm still going," Julia arched a brow at her, then turned to the door of the Alpha Team's dorm. She pulled a card out of her pocket, swiped it on the receiver, then pushed the door open.

"Still, at least you're better at socializing than me. I freak out half the people I talk to with my love of all things 'creepy'. You know: rats, dark arts, poisons, spiders…" Carla trailed of, crossing her arms.

"Yeah? Well I like blowing people up. We can be creepy together," Julia laughed at her before stepping inside the dorm. She froze, looking at what was happening in the living room, "What the hell is going on in here?"

Roman, Jack, David, Kian, Travis and Raven sat on the couch, at least five empty boxes of pizza laying around them. The stereo on the table next to them had music playing, and the guys laughed at something Raven was joking about. The guys noticed the door open, and turned away from the video games they were playing.

"Huh? Oh, it's...the ladies," Raven announced, wiggling his eyebrows Julia's comment. Carla rolled her eyes, fake gagging, then shutting the door to the dorm behind her.

Jack chuckled, taking a bite of his pizza."No luck with girls, huh?" The blond teased, receiving a punch in the shoulder from Raven, "Come to join the fun?"

"Uh… no. We're just here to finish up some History work," Julia said flatly.

"It would help if you didn't call us 'the ladies'," Carla drawled, crossing her arms. Travis' smiled became a bit wider, but patted Raven's shoulder sympathetically.

"So, what exactly are you doing?" Julia asked, gesturing to several pizza boxes scattered about the living room.

David shrugged, responding, "Just bonding. We were all bored, and Roman wanted pizza, then Raven started to tell stories and play some video games."

"It's dude time," Roman shrugged, wolfing down a slice of pizza, "We get pizza. And I get to beat Jack in video games." He snorted, watching his teammate struggle with the game. Jack's giant hands had trouble with dexterity, and made it tricky to use the video game controllers. Roman took pride in being able to destroy him in video games, since he couldn't destroy him in a fight.

The door knob to the dorm room jiggled and turned, before the oaken door swung open. Gezie and Avi stepped in, muttering quietly between themselves. She paused, taking in all the people that were in her dorm.

"Uh… what's going on? Is there a party and I missed the invitation?" The blonde chuckled quietly, giving a small smile. The occupants of the room, especially Avi, knew Gezie well enough to tell that it was fake. There was something deeper, something that was troubling her behind that smile.

"No, the guys are just bonding," Julia shrugged, breezing over to Roman and snatching a piece of pizza out of the box, much to the boys' chagrin. Julia, being very observant, noticed the change in expression from her friend. "Something wrong?" She raised an eyebrow at her.

"No, nothing's wrong," Gezie laughed nervously, smoothly covering her emotions. She knew she had to change the subject to get them off her back. Make sure everything seemed normal until she could figure their problems out. "I was thinking… since the boys are having their night… how about we have ours?" She suggested with a shrug.

"You guys are going out? Oh man," Kian snorted, rolling his eyes, "I'm not missing much. It's probably going to be more boring than our English class." He shared a look with David.

"I agree," Carla snorted quietly, heading to her room. She was looking to spend a night with her new potion that she was working on.

Gezie grabbed her arm, giving the druidess a look. "Absolutely not. It'll be loads of fun! Come on, what do we have to lose?"

"A perfectly good night that I could spend painting and getting extra credit in art," Julia retorted, before adding, "But I'll go."

Carla sighed, and crossed her arms, saying, "It'd be a waste of time I could use to experiment with potions."

"Aw, c'mon," Gezie begged, "It wouldn't be the same without you Carla!"

"What wouldn't be the same without Carla?" Catori asked as she popped into the Alpha dorm.

"A girls' night out," Gezie explained, before asking, "Would you wanna join?"

Catori smiled and nodded, "Heck yeah!"

"H-hey Cat," Travis greeted the nine year old softly. The dark haired girl grinned, and hugged her brother, "Trav!" The blind teen stumbled a bit, but kept up right as he let out a quiet laugh. Most of the others chuckled at the sight. After she released her brother, Catori was greeted by the others and introduced to the Beta team members.

The boys went back to listening to each other, mostly Raven's stories, the radio, and eating pizza. The girls chatted on and by the couch, trying to convince Carla to come with them to a girls night out.

"Fine!" The druidess finally exclaimed, sick and tired of their pestering. Catori cheered a bit, high fiving Gezie.

Julia smirked, patting Carla's shoulder as she said, "C'mon, it won't be that bad. We'll have fun."

"Hey, maybe we should invite Beta team girls?" Gezie suggested, smiling a bit. There were murmurs of agreement from all the ladies.

Suddenly there was a flash of light and Genevieve popped in.

"Miss White, please! Stop running from Mr. Rossi, he's your tutor," the twenty nine year old sighed, then rubbed her temple, "She's never going to pass English at this rate."

Catori groaned, rolling her eyes, "No! He's boring. I don't need him to pass." Travis frowned, laying a gentle hand on his sister's shoulder.

"Catori...you shouldn't skip class," Travis whispered, frowning a bit, "You should go back."

"But a night out with the girls!" The nine year old protested, but upon receiving a shake of the head from Genevieve, sighed and slumping a bit. Going over to Genevieve, she gingerly held the woman's hand, "Fine. English it is."

'Ana and I could use this trip out to hunt down Elle! We could get some answers, and no one would know about it. But we'd need someone to help just in case things go wrong…' She thought, a small smile spreading onto her face. Gezie suddenly snapped her fingers upon realization, "Ms. LaRoux, would you want to come with Julia, Carla, the Beta team girls, and I on a girls night out?"

The teacher gave the teen a surprised look before it morphed into a smile, "Sure. I'd love to. But why invite me, your boring professor?"

"Oh, you know, you're a fun time! And really nice!" Gezie laughed softly, a bit nervous. She felt a little guilty that she was really only using Genevieve as a chaperone, just in case things got a bit hairy. But Elle was a tough opponent. If it came to a fight with the assassin, they would need an experienced medic and fighter on their side.

"You're so sweet," Genevieve chuckled, patting Gezie's back slightly, "How about we get going then? I know an awesome place to stop first!" She clapped her hands together.

Julia shared a questioning look with Carla, arching her brow. She couldn't believe that Gezie had just invited a teacher on their night out. The boys snickered and chuckled amongst each other, watching the ladies intently.

Carla simply shrugged to Julia, "Sure. Let's go." She grabbed her hoodie off the back of a sofa, and shrugged it on.

"I'll meet you ladies outside!" Genevieve squealed with a gleeful grin, then disappeared in a bright flash.

 **Metropolis, Karson's Bookshop**

 **September 25, 03:15 P.M EST**

 **2021**

"So this whole girl's night out thing is a set up? A ruse so we can hunt Elle down?" Ana raised an eyebrow to Gezie suspiciously. After the Alpha and Beta Team had met up outside, Genevieve had led the girls excitedly to downtown Metropolis in their civies, babbling on and on about different medical subjects. Ana and Gezie had drifted behind the girls, getting some privacy to talk.

"It's… not a set up," Gezie shifted uncomfortably, "It's more like killing two birds with one stone. We get a night out, and we get to find Elle."

"But they don't know this is a set up," Ana snorted, turning the corner of the street. She glanced once at the others who were ahead of her, making sure they weren't able to hear the conversation.

"It's not a set up," She sighed frustratedly, "We're simply getting some answers tonight and this is the only way to do it without raising suspicion and questions on the team." 'And to keep this information away from the mole on the team,' Gezie thought to herself.

"Isn't keeping secrets from your teammates bad?" Ana drawled.

"It's for the greater good. And besides, you do it all the time," Gezie shot back.

Ana gave her an amused smile, "And what secrets do you think I'm hiding?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Who the spy is," Gezie said bluntly, her friendly exterior gone. It was all business now. Ana's smile faded as she stared at her.

"The spy? What spy?" Ana's voice was barely a whisper as she stared at the leader of team Alpha. Her expression was truly genuine, Gezie could tell that much. Ana, for once in her life, was in the dark about what was going on. And it was at that moment that she knew Avi had lied. He lied blatantly to her face.

A muscle in Gezie's jaw ticked and she ran a hand through her sandy blonde hair. If Avi, one of her most trusted friends, was willing to lie to her face, who else was keeping secrets on her team? Jack wasn't telling anyone about where he came from, Roman avoided the subject of his past entirely, Avi would act weird when asked about his family, and to top it all off, now Julia wouldn't talk about her past at all. Everyone was too afraid to trust each other, and now they were all keeping secrets. And it was slowly dividing the team and pushing them to the point of no return.

"We're here!" Genevieve chirped happily, and Gezie was pulled out of her thoughts. She stopped in front of a shop, then glanced up at the sign.

"A book shop?" Phoebe deadpanned, staring at the building as well, "Seriously? _That's_ your idea of a good time?"

"Might not be yours, but it's mine!" Carla said quickly, a small smile spreading on her face, "Let's go. Before a line forms at the register!" She quickly headed inside.

"A line at the register? It's a book shop!" Julia called to the druidess, rubbing her temple as she followed Carla slowly.

Ana glanced at Gezie, asking under her breath as they entered with the others, "Who told you that?" Gezie bit her lip, wondering if she should tell the journalist. Now another question was pestering her, what if Ana was the mole? Sighing the blonde shook her head , "Tell you later."

"Look. They have a whole section on Mythology! We have to do this more often," Carla gushed, heading over to the section like a moth drawn to a flame.

Julia rolled her eyes, "It's not that exciting. It's just ink."

" _Just ink_?" Gezie gasped, looking horrified at that statement, "Nothing is ever _just ink._ "

Phoebe groaned in disappointment, "This is so boring! Can't we go to an arcade? I love video games!"

"I-I actually think it's kinda nice," Jace Karlstone mumbled, flipping through a small paperback.

Genevieve breezed back over to Gezie, smiling at the teen, "Isn't it nice? I found the shop on a walk one day. A little hidden gem," She handed the leader a large stack of books, "For your English class! Oh, I talked to your teacher a few days ago. You have a book report coming up. Consider one of these for your assignment."

"Thanks, Ms. LaRoux," Gezie chuckled nervously. She noticed Ana, making her way over to her, then quickly pointed to Carla across the room, "Look! I think Carla is looking at a book on Ancient Greek medical skills! Maybe you should talk to her about that," She quickly pushed Genevieve towards the druidess.

Ana sidled up to the blond casually, "Wanna go to a bar?"

Gezie's head snapped up, and she stared at the girl, "What?! I'm too young to drink!" She hissed.

"Legally, at least," Ana rolled her eyes, "The other night, while I was researching Elle, I found what bar she goes to, to get jobs. Though we could stop for a drink or two." Ana shrugged, giving Gezie a smirk which faded quickly, "But we need to find a way to get there without Genevieve on our case, or anyone asking questions."

"We don't have to tell her we're going to a bar, right? She trusts us enough…" Gezie mumbled, craning her neck and peering at the teacher who was currently babbling about books to Phoebe and Jace.

 _'Help. Me.'_ Phoebe mouthed to her, her green eyes meeting Gezie's gaze.

"Let's do it," Ana muttered to her. Then a little louder she said, "Ms. LaRoux! We know a good place to go next!"

Genevieve paused in the middle of her conversation, allowing Phoebe to subtly drift away, and smiled to her. "Wonderful! I can't wait to see where you take us next. Isn't this fun girls?"

The girls around her nodded quickly, and agreed. Only Jace and Carla truly meant it.

 **Metropolis, Junior's Bar**

 **September 25, 04:00 P.M EST**

 **2021**

"This is _not_ the arcade," Phoebe deadpanned, staring at the building before them. She shot a glare at Ana, before backing away a bit.

"I know it's not, I was thinking we could pop in here right before we head to the arcade," Ana lied smoothly, shrugging to her friend.

"This is a bar," Jace whined, moving behind Genevieve a little for protection.

"Yes. Why are we at a bar again?" Genevieve arched a brow at the girls, not looking amused.

"To visit my uncle. He owns the place. I'm just going to ask him what cool places Metropolis has," Ana lied again, shooting Gezie a look.

"Let's go girls," She said, grabbing Julia and Carla and yanking them towards the entrance of the bar.

As soon as Gezie entered the building, she immediately regretted letting Ana take them here. The paint on the walls were chipped and the dirty concrete floor was cracked, several chairs that were overturned were by old tables covered in mysterious, sticky liquid, and the whole room reeked of alcohol and smoke.

Julia coughed, covering her nose with her dark blue shirt, "Gezie? What the hell is this? It smells like cigarettes and weed in here."

The others stepped in with her, and stared at the room. Jace's bottom lip trembled a little, and she started to back out the door. Ana came up behind her, grabbed her wrist, then pulled her to the bar.

"Hey, Junior!" She shouted, and all the patrons in the bar quickly turned their heads towards her. Ana ignored them, instead quickening her pace to the bar, the heels of her boots clicking against the disgusting concrete floor.

A heavy set man with thinning hair came out of the back, grabbing a beer can off the counter, took a swig, then gave only a passing glance. He froze in place, the blood draining from his face once he recognized Ana.

"Miss… Ana," He gulped, backing away from her slowly, "What a pleasure… and a surprise to see you." He had a high pitched voice, with a faint Italian accent that raised several questions for the girls. One of them, for Phoebe, was the question of whether or not he was with the mafia.

"Well, I wasn't really planning to show up here tonight, but here I am," Ana causally rested her hand on her crossbow which hung off of her utility belt. The man noticed this and blanched, quickly pulling a cigarette from his back pocket and lighting it.

"Yeah, we weren't expecting to be here either," Carla said dryly, glaring at Gezie.

"So, uh, what can I help you with?" The man prompted hoarsely, clearing his throat. It was obvious that the sight of the teen in his bar made him extremely nervous.

"Well, Junior, you can get me a Strawberry Sunrise," Ana sat down on a stool and smirked at him. Junior immediately hurried into the back of his shop, and the other girls followed Ana's lead, sitting down.

"Ana, he's terrified of you. What did you do, send your gang after him or something?" Phoebe joked with a small laugh.

The other teen arched a brow, and a playful smirk slipped onto her lips, "Wouldn't you like to know?"

Phoebe's smile slipped off of her face as she stared at the journalist, slackjawed. She was legitimately considering the possibility that Ana was with a gang now. Maybe that was where she got all her information from.

Junior quickly came back and set the drink in front of Ana.

"An-anything else I can do for you, or your, uh, friends?" The man asked, offering Ana a cigarette. The journalist took the cigarette and glanced at the girls beside her as she asked, "Well, do any of you want anything? I assure you, Junior does have actual good food here. It's just kept in the back for...special guests." The other girls shared a look and shook their heads quickly.

"No thank you, we're good," Gezie told Ana, speaking up for everyone. Ana nodded, putting the cigarette in her mouth, Junior leaned over the counter and lit it. Blowing out some smoke, Ana sighed. "I need information on this woman. Goes under the codename 'Burst'," The seventeen year old murmured to Junior, handing a picture of Elle, face down, to him. He raised a bushy eyebrow at the picture, and a small smirk slipped onto his face.

"Yeah, yeah… I know her. She goes here to meet her customers. Gets all her jobs here," He chuckled lightly.

Ana nodded and stood, as she talked, smoke floated from her mouth, "Now, this is your bar, you hear most everything around here." She put out her cigarette and pulled Junior to her height, her smirk holding an edge, "Did you hear her latest assignment?"

The man nodded, tapping the picture with his pinky finger.

"Burst? Latest assignment?" Carla mumbled, craning her neck to get a better view of the picture. It finally clicked for her, and she let out a small gasp, "No way. Elle? Wait… how did you track her down?"

"Are we… tracking down the assassin?" Julia stared at Gezie and Ana. She couldn't believe their leader had kept them in the dark for this.

"Shut up. Will you just trust me for once? Let Ana do her stuff," Gezie hissed, annoyed at Julia for questioning her.

"Yeah, Miss, a new assignment. Yesterday Burst comes in here, all keyed up, and goes straight to the back of the bar. It's an empty room where she usually talks to her clients. One of my busboys overheard her talkin' with some man about takin' someone out. Robert Brenner, he works with LexCorp. It's kinda strange, since lately all her jobs have been takin' out LexCorp employees," Junior informed the girls quickly, hoping they'd be satisfied.

"We have to stop her!" Phoebe shot up from her seat at the bar, glancing around the group, "Come on girls, we don't have a lot of time to lose."

"Damn. For a ten-year-old girl you're pretty righteous," Junior chuckled, taking a drag from the cigarette.

"First off, I'm not ten. I'm fourteen!" Phoebe protested with a glare, "Second, being righteous is what makes a good hero. And I know I'm a good hero."

"Ten, fourteen, it don't matter. You're still not old enough to be in this bar," Junior pointed out.

Ana rolled her eyes and snatched Junior's cigarette, taking a long drag before putting it out.

"Thanks for the drink, and the information," the journalist grunted, gulping down her drink and slamming down some money, "And one more thing. I'm gonna need a bottle of your strongest vodka. I have a feeling we're going to need it for what's about to happen tonight."Junior sighed, hurrying into the back again.

Genevieve stared at Ana like she was out of her mind, "Are you kidding me? You're smoking and drinking at a bar, and you're not even a legal adult!" She hissed. "I'm going to get fired!"

"Not if they don't find out," Carla chuckled dryly as she shook her head. Genevieve was horrified.

Junior came back, a pretty expensive bottle of alcohol in hand. "It's on the house. Consider it a wish of good fortune. There's also a slip with Robert Brenner's address," He gave her a nervous smile.

Ana saluted him with a triumphant smirk, putting the vodka in her backpack, "See ya Junior."

"Bye, Miss Ana," the man called as Ana herded the girls out of the bar. Junior let out a heavy sigh, giving a dirty look to one of the newer customers, "Don't you tell anyone and I mean anyone she was here, or she and the boss will have us both killed."

 **Metropolis, Apartments**

 **September 25, 05:30 P.M EST**

 **2021**

Jace's old, white sneakers hit the pavement of the concrete as she tried to keep up with the other girls.

"Come on!" Phoebe grabbed her hand and ushered her along, then glanced back at the others, "Ana! Address?"

"287 Terry Lane!" She shouted back, reading off of a slip of paper Junior had handed her.

Phoebe abruptly turned the corner, yanking Jace with her, "Come on! Robert Brenner could be dead already!"

"God, Junior was right. She _is_ super righteous," Carla muttered to Julia, a bit out of breath from the running.

Genevieve laughed lightly, "Right now, she's my favorite out of the group. Partly because she's not smoking and getting drunk, and because she's trying to save an innocent. So maybe you should be striving to be more like her."

"Why don't you just teleport to Brenner? Save us all some trouble," Julia huffed, shooting her a glare.

"My powers don't work like that. I have to have been to place before I can teleport there, and I've never been to Robert Brenner's home." The medic told her. Julia groaned, trying to run faster, "Really? That blows!" Ana rolled her eyes, used to running, mostly away from things or people, but running nonetheless.

"We're almost there!" Phoebe exclaimed, putting Jace on her back so the eleven year old wouldn't fall behind. Gezie nodded as they slowed to a stop in front of the apartment building.

"His apartment number is 221B," Ana informed them, wrenching open the door to the building. The ladies zipped inside, skipping the elevator and hurrying up the stairs.

" _Seriously_? Five flights of stairs to run up?" Carla groaned, following the girl's up.

"Why couldn't this guy have had an apartment on the first floor?" Jace sighed, reaching the top.

"No time to talk girls! We have a life to save!" Genevieve shouted, increasing the pace. The girls stared at her and Phoebe's determination in wonder.

They finally reached apartment 221B, and Phoebe paused, "It's locked!" She called.

"Break it down!" Julia yelled, racing down the hall to her.

Phoebe slammed a foot into the door and the lock snapped off, the door swung open. The redhead walked into the apartment to find a middle aged man sitting on his couch staring at her, a little girl cuddled next to him and sleeping. She had dark skin and a head full of curls, her small form unmoving as she stayed in her slumber.

"What the hell is going on here?" The man hissed, so not to wake his sleeping daughter. He gently picked her up, laying her back down on the couch.

"Sir, are you Robert Brenner?" Gezie asked quickly, glancing once at the sleeping girl. She looked so peaceful. Oh, how that was all about to change, She thought.

"Yes. That's me. Why are you in my house and who are you?" Brenner glared at the girls, standing in front of his daughter's protectively.

"You're in danger, sir!" Jace whimpered quickly, "There's an assassin!"

"Why? Why would they be after me? I've done nothing!" He shook his head, then gently shook his daughter, "Hadley! Get up, we have to go."

"What?" The little girl mumbled, sitting up. Now that Gezie got a better look at her, Hadley looked only a bit younger than Phoebe.

"We have to move honey, it'll be okay," Brenner pulled her up, shoving her towards Genevieve.

"I'll get her to safety," The medic grabbed his scared daughter, then disappeared in a bright flash.

Brenner glanced at the door once, then sighed, "I'll be right there. I need to grab some files from my work." He hurried back towards the bedrooms.

"Is he _nuts_? Hasn't he ever seen horror movies? Splitting up is what gets people killed!" Carla yelled as she began to walk after him."We have to protect him-"

There was a loud crash coming from the bedrooms, and a loud thump that resounded afterwards that sounded eerily like a body hitting the floor.

 **Metropolis, Apartments**

 **September 25, 07:00 P.M EST**

 **2021**

Gezie gazed at the police officers numbly as they loaded up the body bag onto the stretcher. The girls were silent as they officers poured out of the building.

"Gez. What are we going to do?" Carla murmured to her, crossing her arms. Gezie didn't answer, instead taking a shaky breath in.

"So our body count is up one. Great, just great," Ana snorted, taking a swig of the vodka Junior gave her.

Phoebe stared at her, "Are you kidding me? Someone just died. How are you so apathetic to this? That poor girl is going to grow up fatherless!" She pointed over to Hadley, who was being comforted by Genevieve.

"She's being realistic!" Carla snapped back, "There's something I'd like to know, Ana. Did you know this little trip would involve a murder? Because if you did, we could have stopped Elle."

"No. I didn't know someone was going to die. But I knew there was always a risk of it," She scoffed with a sneer, rolling her eyes. "There is always a risk. I knew and do know that, but don't mistake it for not caring. I do, I just don't show it."

"Don't you guys get it?" Julia exploded, scowling at them, "This isn't someone to joke about. We failed. We failed, goddamn it. And someone paid the price for it!" She pointed to the ambulance that was pulling away from the scene, "All because Gezie and Ana were keeping secrets and didn't tell us what the hell was going on. I bet they knew it was going to happen-"

"That's enough! Shut up, all of you," Gezie yelled, fists shaking. "We messed up! I get it, we should have told you! But...we, I didn't think this night would go this way. I didn't...I didn't think that someone would die. I thought it would be a good way to kill two birds with one stone," her voice trailed off a bit, wincing at her phrasing. "We could all hang out and find Elle. I thought it would be better to just keep it between Ana and I, so less suspicion and questions would be raised." The girls stood still on the sidewalk, not talking for a while, listening to the police sirens as the officers tried to talk to Hadley.

"You didn't think this would happen?!" Jace's voice started to rise, as her bottom lip began to quiver. Having someone die on her watch had really struck a nerve. "A man was murdered, his child is an orphan, but no...you didn't think!"

Gezie clenched her teeth, looking at the ground, saying, "I'm sor-"

"No, don't," Phoebe interrupted, "Say that to the little girl, whose father died because we couldn't protect him." Ana simply put a hand on Gezie's shoulder, clutching her vodka bottle like a lifeline.

"And if we don't all shut up and listen to Gezie, one of us will end up like that little girl's father," The journalist snapped, taking a tiny drink of her alcohol, "So we made a mistake not telling anyone about what we were really doing. Whatever. It's over. We still have to stop Elle, and have to make her pay for this. And right now, Gezie is still the one calling the shots, so we need to listen to her."

"How are we supposed to find Elle? She's probably gone by now." Julia huffed, frustrated with her team.

"Carla, I remember you talking about a power you have," Gezie began, pursuing her lips, "Can't you turn into a crow?"

"Carla can turn into a bird?" Phoebe laughed nervously, taking a few steps back from the druidess. "Wonderful. Absolutely wonderful."

"Are you afraid of birds?" Julia raised an eyebrow, a mischievous grin slipping onto her lips.

"No. They just make me nervous," Phoebe muttered defiantly. Then a bit louder, "Anyways, back to the plan."

"Yeah, Gezie, I can turn into a crow," Carla stared at them, then finally got what she was saying. "You want me to turn into a bird, comb the city for her, and then tell you where she is?" She asked skeptically.

"Exactly," Gezie smiled a little, then glanced at her hopefully, "Will you?"

Carla sighed, then shot her a glare, "You owe me for this one. Big time."

 **Metropolis, Public Library**

 **September 25, 09:00 P.M EST**

 **2021**

The girls approached Metropolis Public Library silently, walking down the street towards the building. Jace noticed a figure crouching in the bushes, and she tugged on Phoebe's sleeve.

"Over there," The little girl whispered, pointing to the bushes. The figure hurried out of the brush, quickly approaching the ladies.

"She's in there. Meeting with her client," Carla hissed, coming into view once she passed under a streetlight, "Took me awhile to find her, but I finally got her. We can enter the building from the rear of the roof. The roof will be harder to get to, so I suggest the rear." She nodded.

"The rear it is. She might move again, do we don't have much time. Come on," Gezie nodded, sprinting towards the rear of the red bricked library.

She hurried through the bushes, dodging a few trees, until she reached a grey, metal door around back.

"I've got this," Phoebe pushed to the front of the group, rubbing her hands together slightly. She closed her eyes, placing her hands on the knob of the door. The door handle began to heat up, to the point where steam was wafting off of it, and it started to melt off. She pulled her hands away from the door, then slammed a boot into it, the lock snapping off under the strain.

"Pyrokineisis," She explained to the others, who watched her abilities with interest. Phoebe then quietly creaked open the door, and motioned for the girls to follow. The ladies crept down the hallway, wary of the shadows that danced on the walls.

Carla pulled a few potions out of her pocket, Gezie pulled her tattoos off her arms, Julia and Phoebe led the charge into the building with Genevieve, Ana, and Jace bringing up the rear. The girls weaved in between bookshelves, then crouched down behind one.

"I swear, she was sitting at that table with someone literally two minutes ago," Carla hissed, pointing to a table by a large window, "I watched her from that window over there."

"So where the hell did she go?" Julia muttered, her obsidian eyes sweeping the room. She faintly registered a blue glow out of the corner of her eye, then tackled Phoebe to the ground as it sped towards the girls. The blue glow, which Julia now recognized as a bolt of energy, slammed into the oak bookshelf. The shelf, with part of it still smoking from the blast, teetered and rocked on its side before finally crashing to the ground.

Julia glanced up, seeing a familiar face gloating at her. Elle. The assassin leaned up against another bookshelf right next to her, a small smile toying at her lips as she surveyed the heroes who had come to stop her.

Julia tried to scramble up but was stopped when an energy bolt flared up in Elle's palm again, and was dangerously close to the teen's head.

"Don't do it. It won't end well for you," The woman warned teasingly. "Get up, and you die."

"You knew we were coming," Genevieve murmured, her green eyes narrowing into dangerous slits as she took in the sight of their attacker. If Elle made one move against her students, all hell would break loose.

"Your friend, Junior, was a pretty good informant for you all. Until he betrayed you," Elle drawled, her blue eyes sparkling maliciously as she gazed at the girls.

"Goddamn it, Junior!" Ana hissed, wrenching her crossbow out from the hook on her utility belt. "He's going to get hell for this!"

Elle gritted her teeth, swinging the energy bolt that was flared on her palm around to face Ana. "I swear, if you even think about it-"

Julia chose that exact moment to scramble up from the floor and tackle Elle head on. She slammed into the woman, shoving her into the bookcase behind her, and it toppled over along with Elle and Julia themselves.

The teen threw a punch towards her, and it landed square on her jaw. Elle chuckled darkly, recovering quickly from the blow, then slammed a knee into Julia's stomach. She doubled over, gritting her teeth as the hit stunned her, and gasped when Elle threw another punch into her chest. The others just stared in shock; the little skirmish had taken just mere seconds. Carla, being closest to where Julia was, immediately ran over to help her friend.

"Sending children after me, Genevieve? Isn't that a bit dangerous...for them?" She drawled, her eyes landing on the medic. Genevieve clenched her fists, stepping in front of the other girls to protect them.

"Girls, call for help. Things are about to get messy," She gently patted Gezie on the shoulder, before turning back to Elle. " _And_ a little personal."

Gezie immediately grabbed Phoebe and Ana's arms, pulling them away from the women who were analyzing each other. She had a feeling this battle wouldn't end well.

Phoebe looked worriedly on, though cheered, "You can do it, Ms. LaRoux! Kick her homicidal butt!"

Ana subtly turned on her camera, and audio recorder. She nodded in agreement with Phoebe, and stood a bit in front of the other two to get a better shot.

Elle smirked at her, rising off the ground slightly. "Your move first," She raised an eyebrow, beckoning to Genevieve for her to make her hit. The medic sprinted forward with a determined look, pulling a fist back to hit her, but disappeared in a bright flash. In a split second, she appeared on the opposite side of Elle again, then slammed the punch into her side.

Elle countered with an energy blast that sent Genevieve stumbled back, but she steadied herself and teleported towards her again.

The fight continued on at a fast pace, with Elle making strong, coordinated attacks that drove her opponent to the defensive quite often. But Genevieve made quick, agile attacks that corresponded with her teleportation, and constantly had the woman on her toes to block and keep up with her.

Finally, with no end to the battle in sight, the girls determined that they had to find a way to end it. Gezie's nervously followed every move the pair made, wincing at every hit Genevieve took and grinning at every hit she landed on Elle. It was obvious that Ms. LaRoux was a beast on the battlefield, despite her sweet and motherly nature.

Then the tables turned. Elle dodged a roundhouse kick from Genevieve, instead grabbing her ankle with her hands, and quickly slamming the medic into a bookshelf. She hit the ground with a groan, gritting her teeth slightly.

Before any of the others could tell what was happening, Elle reached towards her pistol holsters on her hips, pulling out a black gun. She quickly aimed at Genevieve, and pulled the trigger.

A sharp scream from Jace alerted Genevieve of the incoming hit, and she barely twisted to the side, although the projectile still sliced through her shoulder. She cried out, clutching her injured shoulder, and a little blood started to seep through her blue cashmere sweater.

Jace's eyes widened, whimpering as she saw Genevieve shot. She knew she had to help the young woman, or Elle might shoot her again. And this time, it could be deadly. She darted past the others as Elle raised her gun at Genevieve again, trying to shove the assassin away. It was ineffective, and Elle's attention quickly turned to Jace. She grabbed the little girl roughly by the neck, and placed the gun to her temple.

Genevieve let out a grunt of pain, quickly getting up and teleporting behind Elle, aiming a roundhouse kick at her neck. Elle turned towards her, revealing that she had Jace in a vice like grip. Stopping her foot an inch from Elle and Jace, Genevieve scowled.

"You bitch," she growled suddenly, putting her foot down.

Elle scoffed and shook her head, "Now, now, that's no way for a teacher to talk," the assassin hummed, slowly backing to the door. She paused for a moment, grinning at the Genevieve. "How does it feel? Knowing that you lost? The academy sent their little pawns, and you've all failed. All that you've built, and your hope has been torn down because you're not as strong as you thought you were. You've sent these poor children to do a hero's job," She taunted, chuckling darkly.

The twelve year old struggled even more, "Let me go, please!" She whimpered, clawing at Elle's arm. Genevieve clenched her teeth, fists shaking. She knew Elle could kill Jace without hesitation, faster than she could grab the girl. She could only hope that Elle wouldn't harm her, long enough for them to catch her off guard.

Elle smirked, thinking she'd won, "That's a good girl." Turning to the three blocking the entrance she gestured with her gun, "Move along, unless you want to die." Gezie tugged on Phoebe's and Ana's arms.

"Guys, come on, not worth it," she muttered, moving back. Phoebe gritted her teeth, wanting to do something to help, anything so no one would die and Elle wouldn't get away. Ana nodded, stepping back with Gezie.

Elle smirked and nodded, "Thanks little heroes, too bad I'm a liar." She opened the door and aimed her gun at Jace's head, "Bon voy-"

A yell from Carla distracted her, and she whipped her head around to find the young druidess throwing a potion at her. As soon as it hit the ground, a thick smoke rose from the contents, making the assassin cough and rub her irritated eyes. What was this? And why were her eyes so irritated?

Phoebe took that opportunity, that moment of confusion, to attack. She ignited her body in flames, then rushed forward with a punch. It slammed into Elle's jaw, making the woman release her hold on Jace.

Elle barely had time to block a kick that would have hit her neck, but screamed when the fired that covered Phoebe's flesh began to lick at her arms. She slammed a shoulder into her gut, then stomped on her leg once Phoebe had fallen. The young teen groaned, holding her thigh in pain.

"You're all inexperienced children! You are fools who will die in vain!" She roared, turning her attention away from Phoebe and glaring at Carla, who was grabbing another potion from her bag.

"I remember you…" A small grin spread on her lips as she recognized the brunette, "How did you like my message?"

"Your what?" Carla froze, her head snapping up as her grip tightened around the bottle. She slightly shifted to the left, to stand in front of Phoebe, who was slowly trying to clamber to her feet. Carla was connecting the dots pretty quickly, and a sharp gasp escaped her lips. "You...shot the arrow. You sent the death threat. You're… the Light of Justice?" She breathed.

"You're so smart!" Elle mocked her, advancing on her slowly. "Really, my bosses don't like you. And I was all too happy to try and kill you."

"Why? What does this Light of Justice have to gain by threatening and trying to kill us?" Carla growled, taking a few steps back. Her mind was reeling as she was piecing it all together, and she and Gezie exchanged a worried glance.

"Isn't it simple? Your Luthor's pawns. It's our job to take you out, so it's easier to take him out." Elle laughed, flaring a energy ball up and moving towards her quicker. Carla didn't have time to continue her thought process as the assassin lunged forward, and she darted away to avoid the blast.

Gezie had enough with her teammates lives being in danger, and was ready to end this fight. She felt a surge of anger and frustration, and the books surrounding her began to tremble slightly. The ink began to bleed off of the pages, onto the floor and the bookshelves, and pooled at Gezie's feet. It swirled around, gaining structure as it slowly rose off the floor in wave behind her. All the blood drained from Elle's face as she took in the massive ink tidal wave that was crashing down on her.

Elle shot off the ground, trying to dodge the wave by flying away, but was eventually caught and was slammed by the wave. She sailed backwards, hitting a window, and crashing through. She slid into the ground, glass slicing into her arms and grass being torn up.

She groaned tiredly, rubbing a huge gash on her forehead. Her eyes snapped open, and immediately met Gezie's.

"This isn't over, Gezie. I will find you. And I'm going to kill you," Elle hissed, her blue eyes blazing with fury. She hated having to run. She hated having these children best her in battle by pulling little tricks out from their sleeves. She sneered at Gezie once, then shot off the ground and took off, flying away until she was but a dot in the sky. Gezie didn't follow, instead turning away from the shattered window.

 **The Academy, Alpha Dorms**

 **September 26, 12:00 A.M.**

 **2021**

Gezie led the other girls into the Alpha dorms. The boys were still there, though they had moved to the couch and floor around it. David was squished between Kian and Raven, Travis sat on the ground, dozing off from time to time. Jack and Roman were absorbed in playing a board game as they sat side by side on the floor.

"Hey you guys!" Raven greeted, looking up from watching Jack and Roman, who were playing Monopoly very passionately. Both boys were grumbling and glaring at each other from the heated game by the time the ladies walked in.

Raven raised an eyebrow at their disheveled appearances, "Some girls' night out...huh?" Trailing off, he stood as he spotted Genevieve's wound. Gezie and Ana on either side of the woman to support her.

"Yeah. It was...unexpected," the journalist said dryly, "It got pretty crazy on the dance floor."

Gezie rolled her eyes,"We'll tell you later. Where's Travis?" She questioned, not seeing the blind teen from behind the couch. At Raven's unexpected quietness, and remarks, the other boys looked up too, Roman and Jack putting their game on hold for a moment.

"Uh, I'm right here," Travis said, standing quickly. He frowned a bit as he felt the girl's' emotion. Tiredness was the most prominent.

Phoebe sighed in relief, "Thank goodness. Think you can heal a bullet wound?" The redhead asked. Travis' eyes widened in shock and horror, but he nodded as he made his way to Genevieve to heal her.

Roman stood and went over to Julia. He looked down with a questioning look at her and Carla, who she was slightly leaning on.

"Don't. Say. Anything," Julia hissed, flipping Roman off. It was obvious the girl became stressed very quickly and easily, and this was one of those times where she wasn't going to take any of his crap.

The taller boy rolled his eyes, completely ignoring her before he sat back down, "Glad to see you're alive, shortstack." Julia scowled at the new 'nickname', but felt her stomach become a little fluttery. Carla chuckled at the interaction, raising an eyebrow as Jack came over to her.

"Are you two okay?" The blond asked, lips in a frown. He noticed several cuts from the glass of the window on her arms and neck, and was a little concerned on what exactly happened on their night out.

Julia scoffed, gesturing to some bruises that dotted her collarbone and jaw, "Does it look like it Arsenault?"

Jack rubbed the back of his neck, "Oh...sorry. I was just-"

"It's fine," Carla said dryly, trying to smooth over the tension in the room. She wanted to be out of there as soon as possible, and just wanted to lay down and sleep. "She just needs some rest, just as the rest of us do. There was a fight...at the nightclub we went out to."

"A… fight? At a nightclub?" He asked skeptically, not asking about the burns Julia had. He recognized those burns as the ones Roman had received from Elle during their fight, and could tell something wasn't right about their story, although he chose not to push the issue. He resolved to ask later, in a calmer environment.

Genevieve sighed, and smiled as the medic worked over her shoulder, "Thank you Travis." Travis shook his head.

"N-no, problem," he muttered, "Anything else n-need to be h-healed?"

"Nothing a bit of sleep can't cure," Phoebe grinned same as ever, though tiredness creeped into her voice. Jace nodded in agreement, standing by the older girl.

After making a bit more small talk, assuring the boys that everything was fine and dandy, the girls dragged themselves to Gezie's room.

"We can crash here," the blue eyed girl muttered, barely making it to her bed before flopping down on it in exhaustion.

Ana rolled her eyes, "At least get under the covers." She snorted.

Genevieve grunted as she lifted Gezie, managing to take off the covers before laying the teen down back on the bed. "There, now you'll be warm when you sleep," the teacher sighed, still motherly despite having a pretty bad night.

Julia and Carla dragged in several extra comforters and pillows from their rooms in, and threw them onto the floor. Phoebe and Jace grabbed some blankets, spread them out on the floor and the girls got situated, each of them making up a makeshift bed.

"Goodnight girls. Despite everything that happened tonight… I enjoyed bonding with you all," Genevieve whispered, peeking her head in the room. She waved to them, then shut the door tightly so the girls could get some rest.

The boys were still in the living room. Some of the had dozed off, while Raven, Jack, and Roman were still wide awake. They had turned the volume down so David, Kian, Travis, and the girls could sleep better, Raven trying not to shout too loud as Jack and Roman played Monopoly.

A little later the three trickled off into sleep. Raven laying upside down on the couch, David leaning on his legs, Kian just laying back. Jack and Roman slept on the floor, the board game strewn about the living room as the boys snored. Travis had gotten up sometime in the night, putting blankets over them before settling back down against the bottom of the couch next to Raven.

Less than ten minutes later, most of the inhabitants of the dorm were asleep. All except Gezella Leclerc, who lay wide awake in her bed, as Elle's words and actions haunted her.

 **AN:**

 **Wooh! Happy Episode 9 everyone! That was a whole chapter of trouble for the ladies, and we hope you enjoyed it. As you can see, the guys didn't get much screen time. Sorry boys, but you'll get your own guys day out in Season 2! Speaking of Season 2, we are debating of opening submissions for 1 TEACHER. That's right, only one. We will give more details on this next episode if we do decide to open it.**

 **As for next episode, don't be surprised if it's a bit late. It is the finale so it should be longer than most of our other chapters, so that means more to write and review.**

 **Also, first person to spot the RWBY reference gets a cookie! XD**

 **We received a few PMs about villains last episode, so we're going to address that right now. This season mostly focused on Elle, so we can lay the basis of the story all out. This is her time to shine. Next season we will introduce a few other villains, but Season 3 is when we'll really introduce all those villains you submitted. Just… trust us. Okay? XD**

 **Anyways, that's all for today! We didn't give you many questions, because we gave you so freaking many last time! Hope you enjoyed!**

 **Sneak Peek: "Your trust in your team is failing. And it's going to be your downfall."**

 **~Questions~**

 **1\. What is your Oc's favourite dance(move)? And how well can they dance?**

 **2\. What do you want to see happen in the finale?**


	10. S1, Episode 10: The Storm Arrives

**.**

 **How Far We've Fallen**

 **.x.x.x.x.x.**

 **Season 1, Episode 10**

 _~The YoungJusticeFangirls~_

 **The Academy, Alpha Dorms**

 **September 30, 5:00 P.M. EST**

 **2021**

"So, anyone ask you to the dance?" Carla asked Gezie and Julia, standing in front of the mirror, as she put on some light makeup

The three girls were in Gezie's room, getting ready for the school dance. They were still haunted by what happened on their girls night out, but because of Genevieve they had been wrapped up with dance planning. Julia shook her head, stretching out on Gezie's large bed.

"Nope. How 'bout you?" The brown haired girl grunted. Carla and Gezie shook their heads.

"Would've thought that Roman would ask you," the druidess teased, a sly grin on her face.

"We're _friends."_ Julia emphasized, for what seemed like the thirtieth time today.

Gezie snorted, rolling her eyes as she fixed the gold earrings she was wearing. "More like rivals. You two never stop bickering. And when you do, it's only because you're sparring with him."

"Yeah, so? We're _barely_ friends. Plus, he needs a challenge. _I_ am that challenge," Julia scoffed, getting to her feet to join Carla in front of the mirror.

"I think you're his challenge and his _girl_ ," Carla hummed under her breath. Julia, hearing the comment, pinched Carla's arm. The druidess yelped, and swatted Julia's hand away, shooting a grumpy look at the other girl.

"Stop that," the obsidian eyed girl grumbled with a slight blush. "I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times, we're _just_ _friends_. I'm not even sure he considers us friends, actually. Maybe he just considers me as that annoying girl who worries all the time." She scoffed, adjusting her red wine gown.

Carla stuck her tongue out at Julia. "Sure, that's why he always looks at you when you aren't watching," she teased, smirking at her friend's rosy cheeks before saying, "You won't need any blush if we keep talking about you and how you _totally_ aren't with Roman." Julia grumbled under her breath, putting on some mascara. Gezie, rolling her eyes, got up and joined her friends at the mirror. "Come on Carla, stop teasing Julia so much," the shorter girl chastised, smoothing her red, lace tea dress. Turning and twisting a bit as she looked at herself in the mirror, she deemed her appearance acceptable.

A sudden and loud knock at the door pulled the girls away from their talk, and Julia went over in an unhurried fashion, opening it to reveal a glaring Raven.

"You guys have been in here forever! We have to go!" He complained with an over exaggerated pout, crossing his arms.

Julia glanced at the digital clock that hung on the wall and scoffed, "We've only taken an hour."

"That's still _really_ long. The other guys are getting antsy too, and we'll be late if we don't leave soon!" Raven sighed, practically bouncing up and down from excitement.

"Fine. I suppose we're all ready anyways. Let's go ladies," Gezie declared, putting on her last layer of lip gloss. She adjusted a gold bracelet on her wrist, then exited her bedroom with the other girls.

The other boys were talking and laughing amongst each other quietly as the girls arrived in the kitchen. Apparently they had really bonded during the girls' _nice_ night together, and the boys hung out together more often now. Jack and Roman still had their rivalry, but it was friendlier than it used to be, more focussed on video games too.

"You all look very nice," Jack nodded, gentlemanly as always. He may have been a tank on the battlefield for the team, but he was very gentlemanly and responsible to the rest of the team.

"You as well," Carla replied, a hint of a smile playing at her thin lips as she gazed at his black and white tuxedo.

"Great, great. We all look amazing. Can we go now? Phoebe and the rest of the Beta team are already down at the dance!" Raven pleaded, excitement sparkling in his eyes.

"Yeah. To the courtyards," Jack shrugged, swiftly grabbing his black blazer that rested on the back of a chair, and shrugging it on. The rest of the team grabbed their coats and such, leaving the dorm, an electric feeling of excitement in the air.

"Why is every news station within a mile of this school here?" Avi raised an eyebrow as the Alpha Team walked out of their dorm, towards the courtyard where the dance was being held. He was trying to act natural, or at least somewhat, even though Gezie was still giving him the cold shoulder. Gezie had confronted him about lying to her after the girl's night out, but he, though not happily, lied again, making up that Ana had lied to Gezie, not wanting to be questioned. They fought, of course, but in the end Gezie tentatively took the story, still unbelieving and now a bit untrusting of Avi.

Several news trucks were parked in the parking lot, and several reporters were talking to the principal of the academy, Mr. Rashid.

"I… didn't know this was going to be so _publicized_. This is supposed to be just a regular school dance, _right_?" Carla murmured, her blue eyes sweeping the area.

"When it deals with Luthor, it's always going to be publicized. And no, this dance wasn't really for _our_ enjoyment. It was just a press event to detail the success of the school," Jack grumbled with a sigh. He gestured with his hand to the fancy ball, with people dancing the waltz. It looked rather boring, probably because it was just putting on a show for the press.

The students walked towards the entrance of the dance, and glanced around at the photographers and newscasters who suddenly turned their attention to them. Jack, being used to all the attention he received for being Luthor's poster boy, looked apathetic as the camera flashed. Carla shifted uncomfortably, shielding her eyes slightly from the bright flashes, and Roman simply grimaced. The team slowly went over to their principal at his beckoning.

"This," Mr. Rashid gave a fake smile as he gestured to the teens, "is our Alpha Team. We are extremely proud of them." The reporters started to ask more questions, basically shoving the microphones in the teens' faces. Roman growled in his grumpy way, and they backed off a bit, but still asked questions.

Many minutes later some of the Omega team started to trickle over, giving the Alpha team time to escape.

 **The Academy, Courtyards**

 **September 30, 5:30 P.M. EST**

 **2021**

Team Alpha looked around, sighing in relief, as they finally made it in the dance, away from the cameras and reporters, after Mr. Rashid had asked them to come over. They were questioned, though the principal intervened when the questions were a little more...serious. Mainly when the subject had turned to the recent murders of the LexCorp employees and thefts of some of LexCorp's products.

"Huh, did some serious clean-up here didn't you?" Raven commented, looking around the transformed courtyard. It looked nice. Decorations on the bushes, lanterns hanging from the trees, tables with food and punch on them scattered throughout, and room for people to dance. Carla rolled her eyes, "It was mostly Ms. LaRoux. Julia and Gezie helped more than me."

Gezie shook her head with a sigh, "Carla got most of the decorations up, and she suggested where to put the tables. She helped more than she thinks." Julia nodded in agreement, giving Carla a look when the druidess was starting to disagree.

"Hey, you finally made it!" Phoebe grinned, the first to greet the Alpha members. "Did Mr. Rashid call you over to talk to the reporters too?" She asked, a cup of punch in her hand. Everyone nodded, though Roman had wandered off towards the food.

"Yeah. It was really weird, and they were asking questions rapid fire," Raven complained in a whiny voice. Phoebe chuckled a bit before saying, "That happened to us too. Ana seemed to handle it well, better than most of us. Then again...David seemed to be soaking up all the attention, mostly redirecting the subject to his art though."

"Phoebe and Raven certainly seem close," Julia commented softly to Carla and Gezie, raising an eyebrow.

"They're pretty similar. From their joking and true heroic intentions to do good, to their care for their friends," Carla hummed, gesturing to the two jokesters of the Alpha and Beta teams, Gezie nodded, agreeing with both of them.

"I guess that's what makes them close. It's because they can relate to and understand each other, probably better than any of us could to either of them," the Alpha team's leader pointed out. The two other girls let out murmurs of agreement before glancing up again. Jace had shyly came over to the girls, chewing her lip as she stood.

"Oh, hi Jace," the Alpha girls chorused to the smaller girl.

The twelve year old murmured, "Hi. Uh, what do you think of the dance so far?"

"I like it," Gezie smiled, glancing at the dance floor. "Not a lot of Omega, but enough for them to be a team," she hummed, gesturing to some people who didn't look very familiar that came in and others who were already there.

Carla and Julia nodded, the former shrugged at Jace's question saying, "It's alright. A little crowded."

Julia rolled her eyes at the druidess. "Ignore her. The party is great," the brown haired girl sighed.

Suddenly Catori, who was in a cute black dress, with sparkles on the skirt and ballet flats ran up to the group. She was greeted by the Alpha team, Phoebe, and Jace, before receiving some compliments on her outfit.

"You all look so pretty!" The nine year old gushed to the girls with a huge smile. Catori almost swooned as she saw Jack. "Wow Jack, you look really nice," the dark haired girl commented, smiling sweetly. The blond teen chuckled, crouching down to Catori's height.

"Well, you look very nice too. You're absolutely beautiful," Jack told Catori, giving the girl a kind smile. Travis' usual smile became softer as he crouched too.

"I bet you look just like Jack says Cat," the blind teen said softly. "Just stunning."

Catori smiled brightly, "Thank you! Genevieve was actually good for something and helped me find it." Travis sighed at the way his sister referred to one of the nicest teachers on campus and shook his head.

"Well, would you give me the honour of a dance?" The red haired teen asked, holding out his hand and Catori nodded eagerly. Even though she was happy just to watch her brother dance, to do something he loved, she knew it would make him happy to dance with her.

"It's nice...seeing siblings on campus, just acting like siblings," Julia sighed, glancing at Roman before wandering over to him. Carla and Gezie started to talk about school, as well as just random things. Raven and Phoebe chatted excitedly about the latest video game that hit the shelves, Jace standing by them and piping up once in awhile.

Jack chuckled at the pair's enthusiasm before deciding to start up a conversation with Avi. He went over to the punch table where the mechanic was getting a drink and asked, "So, how is that motorcycle coming along?"

"Great! I'm probably going to add some awesome stuff so we can keep up with the villains who can fly," Avi informed Jack excitedly. The mechanic glanced to the left, then noticed Ana approaching the pair. She sauntered up to the boys, her artic blue eyes scanning their appearances.

"Hey," She greeted amusedly, raising an eyebrow at Jack. It was a slight indication that she wanted some time alone with Avi, and he got the message. Jack chuckled softly, before heading back over to Gezie and Carla were.

"Hey to you too." Avi glanced at Jack as he left, asking a bit awkwardly, "So, uh, how are you-"

"Wanna dance?" Ana asked suddenly, holding out her hand.

Avi's eyes widened and he chuckled nervously, "Uh, yeah. Sure." The journalist took Avi's hand, dragging him to a nice, less crowded spot on the dance floor. The mechanic bit his lip, tentatively putting one hand on Ana's waist as they laced their free hands together. They danced for awhile in silence, awkwardness surrounding Avi as he had no clue how to react to this.

"I want to ask you something," Ana sighed, leaning closer to him.

"I'm afraid to ask what," Avi joked slightly, nervous at how little space was between them. Specifically, their lips.

Ana rolled her eyes, raising an eyebrow, she scoffed softly, "You know exactly what I'm going to ask you about." Avi tensed a bit, his grip on Ana tightening subconsciously, though he loosened it when he noticed.

"I'm sure I don't," the taller teen gulped, shaking his head. He really hoped she wasn't going to try and kiss him, because if so, he wouldn't know how to react.

Ana glared at Avi, giving him a scowl. "You know exactly what _Redhawk,"_ she said coldly, stepping even closer. "Why did you lie about who told you about the mole? Why did you blatantly lie to Gezie that I was the one who told you?"

Avi's blood ran cold as he realized she knew, and his face went pale. "I'm not having this conversation with you. You're on Beta team, it doesn't concern you," the mechanic hissed and tried to pull away, but Ana held him tightly in place. He panicked slightly; this girl had a grip of iron.

The journalist huffed, "At least answer this: Who really told you there was a mole on the team?"

Avi bit his lip, shaking his head vehemently, "I can't tell you."

"Why not? I'm perfectly capable of carrying my own secrets around, why not one of yours?" Ana asked, narrowing her eyes. "My last name is Holmes for a reason, so do you want to make me deduce it or something?"

Avi shook his head again, "No I just...if I can't tell Gezie, one of my most trusted friends and my team leader, I can't tell you."

"And that's because...?" Ana trailed off, looking at Avi to answer. The taller teen closed his eyes, looking more tired than ever.

"I just-it's just that," Avi sighed in frustration, "It's difficult to explain."

"Then don't make it difficult for everyone and just tell me," Ana hissed, irked by Avi's stubbornness. The mechanic glared at Ana, saying, "I would if I could Ana, I really would."

"Just tell the truth Redhawk," the journalist snapped, lowering her voice. "Do you think I'll just turn my back and tell Gezie? Do you think I can't keep your secret because it's not mine? Because I won't, and I can. If I know, maybe I'll cover your sorry ass, and make up a story."

Avi chewed his lip, mulling over the offer. ' _If Ana could convince Gezie she was faking not knowing...it would get Gezie off my back, and she'd probably trust me again,'_ he thought, eyebrows furrowing. Avi nodded, "Fine. I'll tell you."

Ana smirked, letting her grip relax a bit, "Good."

"It was...it was Mr. Jasper," Avi informed lowly, glancing around nervously, even though no one was looking at them. Ana nodded, not showing even the slightest surprise.

Avi then realized… she already knew. She knew that Harvard was watching the team. If she didn't, she'd be more shocked. But how did she know? Perhaps her journalism was more extensive than he originally thought…

"Alright. I'll work out a cover then," the journalist hummed, raising an eyebrow at his relieved expression.

"Thank you. I truly mean it," He sighed. She simply nodded, then continued on with the dance.

 **The Academy, Courtyards**

 **September 30, 6:00 P.M. EST**

 **2021**

On the other side of the floor, Travis and Catori enjoyed dancing with each other. Catori giggled as she stood on her brother's feet. Though it didn't boost her up much, the siblings still danced as normally as possible. They were content, not trading partners or fidgeting awkwardly. Catori knew Travis knew what he was doing. After all, the nine year old had seen her brother dance a million times. She knew that the blind teen loved to dance, and was _good_ at it. Catori knew that it was one of the ways he could truly express himself.

Travis, as he was so tall, leaned down to hold Catori's hands. Even though it was probably uncomfortable, he still had his unwavering smile on his face. It seemed to be a bit wider than usual as he swayed with his little sister.

"Hey Trav," Catori hummed, looking around at the couples and friends around them swaying.

"Yeah Cat?" Travis asked, his smile still ever present. The nine year old bit her lip, answering with a question, "Wouldn't you rather dance with a girl your age? Someone who could be your soulmate? Like in Fairy Tales and movies?" Travis bit his lip and shook his head.

"Cat...you know I'm not into that stuff, if you'd rather dance with Jack and I dance with someone else," Travis sighed, his smile softening.

"No, I know I just...I want you to find someone," Catori whispered, looking down at her feet on top of Travis'.

The medic let out a small, soft chuckle, "Cat, I have plenty of time for that. Right now, I just want to dance with my little sister. This is as good as any fairy tale or movie. Actually, it's better."

 **The Academy, Courtyards**

 **September 30, 6:30 P.M. EST**

 **2021**

Julia, who stood by Roman in silence at the punch table, sipped on her drink. The red eyed boy of the Alpha team was in a button up shirt, though not all his buttons were buttoned, loafers, and slacks, while she wore a nice red wine gown.

Glancing at him, Julia snarked, "So you decided to not even _try_ to dress yourself correctly?"

Roman rolled his eyes. "Laugh it up _shortstack_. At least I didn't take over an hour to get ready," the taller teen grumbled, sipping on his punch.

Julia scowled and punched Roman in the arm, "Don't call me shortstack, weirdly tall boy." She paused for with her teasing to see David sidling up to her.

"Hey Julia," David grinned as he came up to her, dressed in a nice tux. He was dressed better than Roman, which wasn't saying much as most of the team was.

"Hey David," Julia greeted, a small smile appearing.

"You look very nice tonight." David chuckled and gestured to her outfit then glanced once at Roman, "Wish I could say the same for you."

Roman glared at the male artist, but the slightly taller teen didn't notice.

"So Julia, I was wondering, what was a lovely lady like you doing on the sidelines? Then I thought, 'Has no one asked her? What fools these other boys are,'" David informed the obsidian eyed girl before getting to the point, "And the reason I came over here was to ask: Would you like the honour of dancing with me?" Julia's eyes widened, half wanting to decline and stay with Roman, the other half wanting to say yes. She might as well dance with someone tonight, as she didn't think Roman would ask her.

"Why, such a gentleman. I'd love to," The female artist smiled, feeling like the words were coming out from another person's mouth as David took her hand and lead her to the dance floor.

Roman scowled harder than usual, his eyes going stormy as he squeezed his cup of punch so hard it started to break.

"Hey man, what's with you?" Raven asked, walking over to get drink for Phoebe and himself. Roman threw the plastic cup away, aggressively grabbing himself another one, and grumbling out, "Nothing." Though his angry eyes followed Julia and David as they laughed and danced. Raven spotted the pair and nodded in understanding.

"So _that's_ what's with you," the silver eyed teen observed. Raven glanced over his shoulder at Phoebe, who had wandered away to start conversation with Jace. The poor twelve year old barely got a word in as Phoebe chatted on and on. "Uh, maybe I can help?" Raven suggested.

"Help with what?" Kian asked, coming over and pouring himself a glass of punch.

"Help Roman with the 'David is friends with Julia, and asked her to dance,' situation," Raven explained, a mock serious expression on his face.

"Well I'm no expert on romance, but I think you should be a little nicer to her. Most girls don't want their boyfriend to be a total asshole, like you. But who knows? Maybe Julia's into that kinda thing. Women are strange, mysterious creatures," Kian shrugged, taking a sip of punch.

Roman let out a low growl, "Kian, shut up. I don't need help. There's nothing wrong."

"Suit yourself, man. I'm not very good at relationship advice anyways," Kian shoved his hands in the pocket of his suit jacket and began to walk away.

"Oh come on!" Raven protested," You're _so_ jealous David is dancing with your girl, so go out there and-" He suddenly yelped as Phoebe grabbed his arm and started to drag him to the dance floor.

The redhead grinned as she put her hand on Raven's shoulder, her other hand holding his. Raven put his hand on Phoebe's waist, sending an apologetic look to Roman as he danced with her.

 **The Academy, Courtyards**

 **September 30, 8:00 P.M. EST**

 **2021**

Gezie took a step back from the crowd, taking a shaky breath. She was an introvert at heart, and pretending that she wasn't this long was really taking a toll on the leader. She quickly grabbed a drink off the refreshments table, then breezed away from the dance, back towards the gardens.

She walked along the cobblestone paths, through the expansive gardens that covered the area, and sighed in relief. After weeks of stress and pressure to perform as a good leader, it felt nice to have a little time to herself. Gezie found a nice bench near a small babbling brook, and sat down. She leaned against the back of the chair, closing her eyes, and relaxing. Oh, how she needed this.

"Don't you look keyed up. Something on your mind?" A voice next to her purred.

Gezie's eyes flew open to find a woman sitting next to her, staring at her intently with a coy smile playing at her lips. The woman had a black dress suit with a blue tie, and her voice seemed familiar to Gezie. Though, since the sun had set and she was in the dark, she couldn't see much and tell who it was.

"Who are you?" Gezie asked immediately, trying to peer through the darkness to tell who it was. It was fruitless though, and she couldn't help but wish she had night vision.

"Just a concerned party goer," The woman immediately assured her. "I know you, you're the leader of Team Alpha. Why aren't you in there with your friends?"

"I don't know. I just needed some time to think. I figured my friends would be fine for a few minutes without me." Gezie shrugged quietly, relaxing a bit.

"It doesn't really sound like they're your friends from the way you talk about them. It sounds like you're their babysitter." The woman chuckled a little.

"Sometimes I feel like a babysitter… Roman and Julia bicker, Roman tries to fight Jack but loses horribly every time, Roman yells at Travis… actually, I think I'm only babysitting him." Gezie scoffed.

"No. It's something deeper. Almost like… you're wary of them. Like you can't trust your teammates," She said, tilting her head.

"I feel… that way a lot, actually. They're all being so secretive and afraid! It's… making me question who's actually loyal to the team, and not someone else," Gezie sighed, resting her head on the palm of her hand, "I'm sorry. I don't know why I'm venting to you…," she trailed off, rubbing her forehead

The woman chuckled a bit, "It's alright, everyone needs to let some stress out every once in awhile. Vent until your heart's content," she gave a small sigh afterwards, "Not everyone is going to be loyal to you. _Everyone_ has some form of ulterior motive."

"What do you mean?" The girl breathed, her eyes narrowing.

"You know your team isn't telling you everything. Why they came to the academy, what their past is, who they… work for," the woman hummed, her voice getting softer as if telling a secret.

"Who the hell _are_ you?" Gezie hissed, her eyes widening in alarm. How did this woman know this? Was she working with the mole possibly?

"I'm not _just_ a concerned citizen. I'm a little bit more than that. I work with a group who tries to do good in this world. A group that wants to remove corruption and bad individuals who work from our government." The person said gently, "Our president."

The words hit her like a pile of bricks. The president? What was this, a rebel group? She was talking to a crazy person. That's what this had to be. But then again… the curiosity gnawed at her.

"You're…trying to get him out of office? Why?" Gezie breathed, her mind going a mile per minute.

"Dear, I know you've been searching for answers-"

"What do you know? What was that cargo that was being delivered? Where was it going? Who was it for?" Gezie snapped, her fists clenching and unclenching in anticipation. She needed to hear this _now._

"Aren't you eager to hear?" The woman chuckled, "The cargo was LexCorp weapon plans and new weapons. They were being delivered to the docks, then being shipped over to Bialya. And well, if you know a lot about Luthor like I do, I'm sure you can infer _who_ those weapons were for."

Gezie sat silent for a moment, fiddling with the edges of her red tea dress. Who _was_ in Bialya? She couldn't think of anyone he might have ties to there. So that meant she needed to press this person for more information. Gezie needed to channel her inner Ana Holmes.

"And you were the group who attacked the cargo train…?" She inferred, arching a brow.

"Yes. We didn't want those weapons in the hands of the person he was delivering it to. It could cause… mass chaos," The woman shuddered.

"But… if I'm guessing correctly, you're also the people who have been assassinating all the Lex Corp employees? Isn't that doing more harm than the good you want?" Gezie inquired.

"No one is ever truly good. It's never Good against Evil. It's always Us against Them," She explained. "Those employees were working on new, more dangerous weapons. It was necessary to get them out of the picture."

"It was necessary to orphan a little girl?" Gezie hissed quietly, her blue eyes flashing in anger.

"Yes. Robert Brenner was making weapons for Luthor to wipe cities off of the map. Ask yourself this: Why would president Luthor need that?" She growled lowly.

Gezie stayed silent for a moment, biting her lip. Then she whispered, "Why… why _would_ he need that much fire power?"

She didn't want to believe that the leader of her country was making war weapons, because the world was relatively peaceful right now. Who was he fighting? Or did he need those weapons to stay in power?

"You could come with me and find out," The woman immediately answered, "Let me take you to my superiors. They could give you the answers you need, the answers you want, the answers you _deserve."_

It was a compelling argument, Gezie had to admit. They'd spent weeks chasing after Elle and these answers, but now this unknown woman was dangling them right in front of her face. Gezie had a feeling saying yes would be playing right into her hands, and she was wary of that. She didn't want to be a pawn anymore. Not for Luthor, and definitely not for this rebel group.

"What about my teammates? If you truly are a rebel group against Luthor, they're probably going to have to fight you at some point. And if they learn I've been… consorting with you, it'll probably mean the end of us," The teen asked, frowning a bit.

"Gezie… your team's trust in each other is failing. And it's splitting you all apart, towards the point of no return. Either way, your team will _fall_. And besides, is working against Luthor really so bad? I know you don't like him. I see the way your eyes flash when you hear his name. You _know,_ deep down inside, that he's still up to no good. Remember a few years ago when the public was still wary of him? When they were suspicious of his intentions? Where did all that _suspicion_ and _wariness_ go?" The woman hissed, emotions pouring into her words. Gezie could have sworn she saw a flash of something in her eyes, a flash of blue. Then she finally recognized the voice, and the flash of blue.

Gezie let out a yell, then quickly tackled Elle, slamming her into the soft, dewy grass.

"Why are you here? Are you trying to kill me like you did with Avi and Carla?" She snarled, summoning the ink on her tattoos to begin wrapping around Elle's neck. Gezie couldn't believe she hadn't recognized the assassin sooner.

"To help you! If I had wanted you dead I would have killed you already. I had the perfect chance to, but instead, I gave you _information_." Elle yelled back, shifting all her weight to one side and flipping Gezie over, so her back was against the ground now.

"How do I know that wasn't false information?" The girl spat angrily.

"Because it all adds up and you know it! It all makes sense! And it's the truth!" Elle hissed.

"Why are you even working with them?" Gezie wiggled and squirmed in her grasp, trying to wrench herself free.

Elle let out a frustrated groan, "Because Luthor and Cadmus did _this_ to me! They made me who I am, gave me all these damn abilities, and they screwed me up! They kidnapped me from my family and _experimented_ on me. Luthor and Cadmus Labs are awful people who _deserve_ to rot in hell with the rest of us. And you know what? They did the exact same thing to your teammate too."

"Don't you bring Jack into this," Gezie growled, shaking with fury. She was angry with Elle for everything; all the attacks and all her murders, but she also felt sick to her stomach at the thought of Jack being poked and prodded like that. Was he really from Cadmus? Gezie resolved to finally get some answers from him and Luthor… if she survived this.

"Let me up! I'll kill you for everything you've done!" The girl snarled.

"Calm down! I'm not going to hurt you. But if you do try to scream for help, I will."

Gezie glared angrily at her, biding her time. She knew she couldn't overpower Elle, the woman was already as strong if not stronger than Jack was. She had to figure out a way to outsmart her then. Gezie wanted to get some answers badly, but she didn't know what to do. Of course… she could always be a double agent. Pretend to be on Elle's side, alert the team of what she learned, and then take the Light of Justice down. But Gezie didn't think she could _ever_ work with Elle. And a small, small part of her wanted the group to succeed. Wanted to see Luthor fall.

"I don't want your stupid answers," She snarled bringing her knee up to Elle's chest, catching her off guard, then her ink tattoos solidified into whips. She wrapped them around the assassin's wrists, then threw her off of her.

Gezie scrambled to her feet, sprinting away as fast as she could.

"Damn high heels!" She gasped, as she her lost her footing in her red heels and went tumbling to the ground. She gasped slightly as she moved her ankle, her stomach sinking in disappointment as she felt a sharp stabbing pain. Was it broken? Sprained? She didn't have time to ponder what was wrong any longer as Elle was sauntering towards her, a predatory smirk on her face.

"I tried to be nice. I tried to get you on my side. And what do you do? You fuck up. Badly. So now, I'm gonna make you regret ever meeting me." The assassin purred, then grabbed Gezie's hair and hauled her to her feet.

 **The Academy, Courtyards**

 **September 30, 8:30 P.M. EST**

 **2021**

"So, did anyone ask you to the dance?" Jack asked Carla, glancing at the couples on the dance floor. The druidess shook her head.

"Why would anyone ask _me_?" Carla scoffed, rolling her eyes. "I like creepy stuff, and not much of a fan of people."

"Well, you're a pretty good person," Jack frowned, at the second part of Carla's information. "Not a fan of people?"

Carla scoffed, sipping on her punch before explaining, "I'm an introvert. People aren't really my speciality. I'd rather work on potions or read a good book than try and socialize."

"Well, I haven't danced with anyone tonight. Would you like to dance with me?" Jack asked curiously, holding out a giant hand to her.

Carla raised an eyebrow, "You're serious?" When Jack's lips curled into a small smile, she sighed. "Fine." She grabbed his hand begrudgingly, allowing him to lead her out onto the floor.

Jack gently rested his hands on her waist and the pair began to sway. Carla ducked her head slightly in embarrassment, not really knowing how to react.

"You look very nice tonight," Jack said kindly and politely.

"Huh? Oh...thanks...you too," Carla responded, a tinge of pink rising to her pale cheeks.

Jack chuckled, smiling slightly, "Thank you." After a few beats of silence and swaying, the tall blond informed a bit joking, "Looks like Roman was a little late on the dancing thing. David stole Julia to dance."

Carla raised an eyebrow as she glanced over to her friend, "Uh Oh. He's going to raise hell when we get back. Prepare for a temper tantrum."

"I know. I'm probably going to have to be the one to calm him down back at the dorm," Jack sighed tiredly, shaking his head. He definitely wasn't looking forward to their petty romance drama.

Carla shrugged a little, "Well, I think they might-"

Suddenly, a low hush fell over the crowd of dancers, Jack and Carla let go of each other and turned around to find Elle dragging in Gezie. Their leader had a black eye already, and a split lip. A little bit of blood speckled her face, her dress was torn and burned in several places, and mud was caked on her legs.

"Attention all party goers," Elle called out, her voice calm and commanding, "I need Jack Arsenault."

Several loud trucks came speeding down the road towards them, eventually stopping in front of the school. Other mercenaries and soldiers like the ones the team saw on the train came out and headed for the dance. Quite a few of the security guards at the ball quickly whipped out their guns and shot their co workers who were still loyal to Luthor in cold blood.

Carla almost screamed like most of the other guests, as she stared at the sight before her in horror. This whole display of brutality just showed that you really couldn't trust anyone at this school. Including yourself.

She felt the blood drain from her face, and she began to push Jack into the crowd of people gathered on the dance floor. "We have to go!" She hissed.

"If he does not come up here in one minute, I will kill Miss Leclerc," Elle boomed, a energy ball flaring up at her fingertips. She pressed it close to Gezie's neck, and the girl didn't even flinch.

"Jack don't-" Gezie was cut off as Elle pressed even closer. The energy was grazing the teen's neck, almost close enough to set it aflame.

Jack let out a low curse, starting to walk to the front. He stopped as he felt a tug on his hand. Looking back, he saw Carla, a fierce look in her eyes as she warned, "Be careful."

The blond teen nodded to his teammate before pushing his way to the front of the crowd.

"What do you want?" Jack asked, a growl in his voice as he glared at the assassin. Elle grinned upon seeing him, holding Gezie tighter.

"Oh please. Don't act like you're so angry," the assassin smirked at him triumphantly.

"I'm not acting. You're really starting to piss me off," Jack snorted, looking Gezie up and down. She had really gotten her ass kicked, and that made the anger that was already inside of him bubble up even _more._

"Well you're going to have to get used to me, because you and I are going to be spending quite a bit of time together over these next few days," Elle taunted. Jack scowled at the assassin, looking like, and probably wishing, he could kill her.

"Why do you need Gezie? Can't you just let her go and take me?" Jack asked, trying to reason for his friend's freedom. Gezie tried to shake her head, but Elle held her firmly in place.

"Well, I certainly don't need to tell you that, considering I have the upper hand," Elle chuckled, looking around. "Now come with me, or see your team leader die." Jack's scowl turned even deeper as he grudgingly complied. He knew there wasn't much he could do. Elle could snap Gezie's neck or shoot her with her energy in an instant, so the best option he had was to go along with all this. Attacking her would also risk the other guests' safety, and Jack didn't want to see anyone else die tonight.

Elle smirked as soldiers filed into the courtyard. Some taking Jack, putting him in power inhibiting handcuffs, and pushing him into a truck. Gezie had a blindfold wrapped around her eyes, and she was shoved into the back of the truck as well. "Oh, and don't even _try_ to follow us, remaining students and staff," the assassin hummed as the remaining soldiers took up positions guarding the exits. "If you do, well, I guess you can see how well you do against highly trained mercenaries, who won't show mercy." Elle let out a short laugh as she got in the passenger seat of the truck containing Jack, and drove away.

 **A/N:**

 **Holy crap. That was hell. Not the story itself, but writing the story. We had all this inspiration last week, we had the whole chapter mapped out and ready to be written, then so much freaking happened this week that we weren't able to finish it on time. It took us forever. If at any point we're late, check our profile. It has the progress of our latest chapter.**

 **Our chapter title today is a little reference to our first chapter. Storms were brewing and now they have arrived. Just a little fun fact.**

 **So this finale was rough. Real rough. We're leaving you all with a cliffhanger, because here, when do we ever leave you all with a cliffie? Not often. So we figured, why not for our S1 finale?**

 **Anyways, we answered some very important questions in this episode. Mainly in the Gezie/Elle scene. Pay attention to that, because it's our set up for the rebellion! Woohoo! The Light of Justice is a rebel group and they'll be taking the academy by storm in S2! And our Team Alpha leader just learned that our dear Mr. Luthor isn't as nice as he says he is. Dangerous weapons? To Bialya of all places? Uh oh...we smell a Canon character coming soon. As in, several canons in S2. ;)**

 **Also, we are opening submissions again for one more teacher. If your character is on Alpha, you cannot submit. We are only picking one. Please PM us for the sheet.**

 **Anyways, we'll see you all in a couple weeks for the next update. Gotta get all geared up, and plan more of S2! We hoped you enjoyed this season~.**

 **~Fangirls out**

 **~Questions~**

 **1\. Favorite episode of the season? Favorite scene of the season? Why?**

 **2\. What do you want to see happen in S2?**

 **3\. What character development or plots do you want to see happen for your OC?**


	11. S2, Episode 1: Resistance

**.**

 **How Far We've Fallen**

 **.x.x.x.x.x.**

 **Season 2, Episode 1**

 _~The YoungJusticeFangirls~_

 **Metropolis, The Docks**

 **September 30, 9:00 P.M. EST**

 **2021**

Gezie and Jack sat in silence for awhile, listening to the hum of the truck as they drove along. Jack tried to memorize each turn they took, but after awhile he started to loose track, proving it to be fruitless.

"Did she hurt you badly?" Jack finally asked, gruffly. He needed to fill the dead silence around them.

Gezie shifted uncomfortably, wiggling her ankle. There was still that stabbing pain. Part of her wanted Travis here, the other half didn't so as to protect him.

"Not _too_ bad," Gezie mumbled, ashamed she had allowed herself to be captured. Jack frowned, scootching closer to her on the leather seats to get a better look.

One of the guards tensed, aiming her gun higher. She sent a warning look at Jack and Gezie, advising them, "Don't try _anything_." She sounded young, but there was a hardness to her voice that made Jack weary of her. Like she wouldn't mind shooting either one of them.

Sighing, the blond teen nodded, "Of course not, but could you check my friend's injuries?"

"We'll check it when we get to base," the guard next to her grunted out. "Now stop talking."

Jack sent the man a dirty look before turning back to Gezie. The sandy blonde shook her head, leaning against the truck wall as they chugged down the road.

After what seemed like few minutes later, they screeched to a halt. Opening his eyes, not aware that he'd closed them, Jack felt a crick in his neck from falling asleep so oddly.

"Where are we?" Gezie croaked nervously, her eyes flickering open as well. The back doors were thrown open to reveal Elle, smirking at the pair.

"Alright, we're stopping here for the higher ups want to see how it's going so far," the assassin hummed, stepping into the back. "It's also so you and Eagle One can switch out with Hawk Three and Raven One." She informed, addressing the guards.

Jack tried to crane his neck to see the surroundings, but the second guard stood, blocking his view. Climbing into the truck, Elle sat across from Gezie and Jack.

"So, Jack, why don't you tell me about what goes on inside LexCorp?" The assassin started, lacing her fingers together with a smirk.

 **The Academy, The Courtyards**

 **September 30, 9:30 P.M. EST**

 **2021**

Raven grumbled under his breath, Phoebe beside him, a frown crossing both their features.

After the soldiers and Elle had taken Jack and Gezie, the remaining guards herded everyone to the dance floor. The students and faculty were now tightly gathered in groups.

"Hey! Can I get a drink here?" Roman growled, getting into a guard's face as he moved towards the punch table.

"Don't provoke them," Julia hissed, putting a hand on the taller teen's arm, "We don't need anyone on the team dying tonight."

"Listen to the girl," a guard sneered, raising his weapon threateningly. Roman took a menacing step forward, shrugging off Julia's hand.

Roman gritted his teeth, anger twisted in his feature as he shrugged off Julia's hand. Anger bubbling inside him because the fact that Elle got away _again,_ this time with hostages.

"Calm it down!" Another guard stepped up, aiming his gun at Roman. Carla rolled her eyes, crossing her arms.

"Oh yes. Our friends and teammates were _kidnapped_ and we should _calm down_. Let's listen to a _subordinates_ of the people who _took_ Gezie and Jack, _totally_ reasonable," the druidess snorted, sarcasm clear in her voice. The first guard rolled his eyes at Carla, annoyed at the snarky teen.

Avi stepped up, clearing his throat. "Hey, guys? How about we go back to the dorm? I'm sure Mr. Rashid has this totally under control." He looked them all in the eyes intently, and Julia stared at him, puzzled. Travis stood beside Avi, a nervous look on his face as he fidgeted slightly.

Julia shook her head as she crossed her arms, "What do you _mean_ go back to the-"

" _Yes_! I mean, Avi is right. We totally _need_ to go back to the dorm. Nothing we can do now to help Gezie and Jack," Carla quickly interrupted, grabbing Julia and Roman by the arms and trying to drag them away.

The guard just stared at them, his mask covering his confused look, as the remainder of the Alpha Team hurried away, Avi and Carla leading them.

"Wait, why are we heading back to the dorm? Gezie and Jack _need_ us." Roman hissed, wrenching his arm away from Carla.

"It was to get away from them so we can go back and suit up. _Then_ we can go find Gezie and Jack," she explained, rolling her blue eyes. Roman blinked in surprise before nodding.

"Got it _now_?" The druidess drawled as the Alpha team made it to their dorms.

"Think you need any back up?" A voice called from behind. Turning, the group saw it was Phoebe, the rest of Beta team beside her.

Raven grinned slightly, nodding he hummed, "Yeah."

Roman rolled his eyes as he said at the same time, "No."

Punching Roman in the shoulder, Julia nodded sharply, "We'll need all the help we can get. There are a lot of guards and soldiers."

"How exactly do we plan to get to wherever Gezie and Jack are? For that matter, how do we know where they are?" David piped up, loosening his tie.

"Ana," Jace suggested softly, looking at the older girl.

Julia nodded, glancing at the journalist, "Do you have anything?"

"Maybe... a lead," A knowing smile slipped onto her face. The teams exchanged a look. "Let's meet up at Alpha dorms after getting ready," Ana nodded, breezing to the Beta dorms.

 **The Academy, Alpha Dorms**

 **September 30, 10:00 P.M. EST**

 **2021**

A few minutes later the Beta team met with the Alpha team in the latter's living room.

"So, what's the lead?" Raven pressed, his leg bouncing up and down from a mix of anticipation and excitement.

"I may or may not have put a tracker on Gezie," the journalist hummed, showing the two teams her phone, "I thought she might go after Elle again, so I wanted to make sure that if she ever got in trouble we could find her again."

Carla rolled her eyes, "Of _course_ you did."

"When-? Nevermind. _How_ are we going to get to them is the next question," Avi sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"Well...w-we could always hijack a truck," Travis said softly, almost inaudible.

"What'd you say?" Roman boomed tauntingly to the blind teen, "I can't hear you, or maybe you're blind _and_ mute."

"Roman," Julia snapped, "I know you wanna get Elle, but stop being an _asshole_ to Travis. He's only trying to help!"

The taller teen grumbled, crossing his arms. At the statement, Travis gave a soft smile to Julia, and gestured to Avi to repeat the suggestion.

"Uh, we could highjack one of the trucks they pulled up in?" The mechanic suggested, but it came out as a question.

"Yeah!" Phoebe cheered with a grin, though it faded as she asked, "Uh...who knows how to hotwire a truck?"

In sync, Avi and Ana raised their hands, though Ana's was a little lower.

"Of course," Carla snorted, tucking back a light brown curl. Ana rolled her eyes, looking at her phone.

"They've stopped," the journalist informed as the teams crowded around her phone, craning their necks to get a better look. Everyone nodded, checking their weapons and gear. Ana continued, "We have to get past the rebels in the parking lot first. Roman, you think you could take them out quickly and without drawing attention?"

"No problem. I look forward to it," He smirked, cracking his knuckles.

Kian chimed in, "What about the guests at the party? Somebody has to help them." He glanced around the group.

"We split up, obviously," Carla drawled, rolling her eyes. Phoebe nodded in agreement before asking, "Who goes with who?"

"Alpha team can go save Gezie and Jack because they _are_ our teammates," Raven suggested, crossing his arms. "Then you, the Beta team, can go rescue the guests."

"But only Ana has the coordinates," Jace said softly, frowning a bit.

"Not anymore," Ana scoffed, as a 'ding' went off on the Alpha team's phones. "Sent the coordinates and directions to Alpha team."

"Thanks," Julia nodded, checking her phone.

David stretched, rolling his shoulders as he clarified, "So the plan is that Alpha goes to rescue Gezie and Jack, while Beta saves the guests and other students?"

"Seems like it," Avi said, running a hand through his already messy hair.

"Well...don't die," Phoebe grinned, sharing a firm handshake with Raven. The silver eyed boy smiled back as he snorted, "Of course not, you either. I have more jokes I need to share with you."

"Be careful," Jace said quietly to the Alpha team, wringing her hands. The teams nodded to each other in silent 'hope you succeed' before leaving the Alpha dorms.

Before splitting up, the teams said their 'Good lucks', then quickly went to do as planned.

 **The Academy, Courtyards**

 **September 30, 11:00 P.M. EST**

 **2021**

"There are guards by the trucks," Roman grunted lowly as he crouched. The Alpha team was hiding behind bushes, peeking through the branches at the trucks. Carla rolled her eyes, biting back a sarcastic comment after a look from Julia.

"Then we get them out of the way. It isn't that hard," Roman's powers flared to life as he assessed their opponents. He shot a smirk at Julia, "Try to keep up." Then stood and sprinted towards the guards.

He streaked across the parking lot, slamming his fist into the jaw of the first rebel he saw. The guard dropped to the pavement with a sickening 'crack' coming from his jaw. Roman simply smiled at this like a madman. Violence was his form of entertainment.

He noticed movement to his side, out of the corner of his eye, and spotted Julia taking down a group of guards. She raised an eyebrow as she noticed Roman's stare, challenging him to do better than her.

Naturally, Roman obliged. He slammed one guard into the side of a truck, and launched a kick into another's chest. He then frowned when his eyes swept around the parking lot, "They're all down." He mumbled with a sad sigh.

"That's a _good_ thing. Means we don't have to fight anymore," Avi said, running over with the others. Travis gingerly worked his way around the unconscious soldiers, Carla leading him since he couldn't see.

Going to a truck, Avi slid the seat back as far as it could go. Leaning over to wheel, a screwdriver and small hammer seemingly appeared from nowhere into his hand. He put the screwdriver in the keyhole, hammering it slightly. Most of the team watched in slight interest, though Travis was still being lead over by Carla. Roman impatiently loomed over the other boy, sighing as the seconds ticked by.

"I'm trying to start the ignition," the mechanic noticed Roman's unhappy expression, and rolled his eyes at him. He twisted the screwdriver, muttering under his breath over and over, "Come on...come on work, damnit. Work." He let out a sigh of relief as the team heard the engine start up. Getting in the front seat of the truck, Avi checked over the car humming in satisfaction when he figured that he could drive it.

"Alright. Let's go guys," Raven nodded, though he wasn't very happy with hijacking a car even if it would lead to Gezie and Jack. "Some of you get in the back, I call shotgun."

Roman scoffed, getting in the passenger seat in the front. "Too slow," the red eyed boy sneered, crossing his arms. Raven pouted, teleporting into the back with Carla, Julia, and Travis.

"Buckle up," Julia huffed to Roman through the slide in the glass that separated the front and back at the top.

Rolling his eyes, the taller teen complied, though grudgingly as he muttered, "Don't tell me what to do."

Avi pursed his lips and started down the road.

"Raven, I need you to be our navigator," He glanced back at the boy.

"No, no, no. You don't want _me_ navigating, I'll accidentally navigate us off a cliff," The boy chuckled nervously.

Avi sighed, "Fine. Julia, could you tell me where to go?"

Julia nodded silently, pulling up the coordinates on her phone, "Make a right at this intersection up ahead."

This continued on a while, in the back Raven, Carla, and Travis were waiting. Raven bounced his leg as he waited for the battle that would surely come, and occasionally chatted with Carla, trying to assure each other that the mission would be well. Travis just sat patiently, hoping that Gezie and Jack were safe.

 **Metropolis, The Docks**

 **October 1, 12:00 A.M. EST**

 **2021**

"Do you see them?" Julia breathed quietly, her breath visible in the cold night air. The team crouched down on the roof of a warehouse on the docks, squinting at the outlines of a few figures.

Avi, who crouched next to her, peered through a pair of night vision goggles he had brought with his gear.

"Affirmative. I can see Gezie…. but no Jack. My guess is he's inside that warehouse, but I can't be sure," The mechanic informed them.

Carla turned to Travis, "Can you use your empathy to get a read on where Jack may be? Specifically, see if he's inside that warehouse. It'll save us some time."

Travis took a deep breath, "It'll be hard. Jack is relatively apathetic to most things. But I can try." He reached out with his mind, stilling his breathing and movement for a few minutes. Emotions spiraled out of several people all at once, but Travis eventually recognized someone familiar: Jack. And he was angry. _Very_ angry.

"Yes. He's down there," The boy nodded.

"Then let's go!" Roman fired up his powers, getting ready to take off.

"Wait, wait!" Avi held up his hands, "I have a concern!"

"Just one?" Carla deadpanned.

"Well, no. I actually have multiple concerns, I only said one so you would let me have my piece of mind," Avi shifted uncomfortably, "Don't we need a plan?"

"Gezie's out of commission right now. We get her back, _then_ we can have a plan," Roman grunted, then grinned impishly, "Right now, it's ass kicking time."

 **Metropolis, The Docks**

 **October 1, 12:30 A.M. EST**

 **2021**

Jack sat on a steel chair silently, his head bowed as he pondered his situation. He was trapped in an empty warehouse, had no access to his powers due to his inhibitor handcuffs, was surrounded by several trained mercenaries intent on torturing information out of him, and had no damn clue where he was.

 _Great_. This was going to be _so_ much fun.

He didn't know why they took Gezie and him, or why Elle was questioning only him if she also kidnapped Gezie. He wondered how much Elle _knew,_ and how she knew.

His thoughts were interrupted as Elle sauntered into the warehouse like she owned the place. Jack wasn't really sure whether she _did_ own the place, but it didn't really matter now. He'd figure that out later.

"Hello," He said politely and calmly, despite being held captive.

Elle narrowed her eyes at his calmness and held up a hand, "It's okay to be scared, Jack. I understand you're a child and being scared in life or death situations is a natural thing to be scared of. You don't have to hide those feelings from me. Don't lie to me like you lie to your teammates."

"Oh, I'm not scared," Jack chuckled darkly. The slight smile that was once on his lips slipped off, and he glowered at her darkly. "I'm pissed as all hell."

"You're glaring at me like you want to blow me up," Elle said, amused.

"Because I kinda want to. Maybe I should just call Julia and get her over here," Jack drawled.

Elle laughed loudly, and shook her head condescendingly, "Oh, Julia. Call her _and_ Roman over here, and _then_ you'll be giving me a challenge."

"How about I give you a challenge right now?" Jack gritted his teeth, straining against the inhibitor handcuffs.

"I would, but since you and Miss Gezie refused to answer my questions in the truck, I have to question you now. Last chance, are you going to tell me about LexCorp?" Elle raised a brow.

Jack leaned forward, his blue eyes glittering with hate and malice. He want to wrap his hands around her neck so badly right now. "Kiss. My. Ass." He growled, enunciating every word.

Elle stared at him boredly, then grinned, "I was hoping you'd say no! See, the others on your team are too easy to break. You, on the other hand, are one of the strongest men in the world, and we just happen come from the same lab." She laughed giddily, "To the regular person, it would seem like someone like you has no weaknesses, that you would be unstoppable. Well, I'm no regular person. We're from the same laboratory, and I've read your file." She breathed madly, reaching into her pocket of her suit for something.

During her whole speech, Jack was practically trembling with rage. If only he could pound her face in. Then, once she brought out a silver lighter from her pocket, and an orange flame began to dance in it, he began to shake with fear instead of anger.

She was going to _torture_ him.

And it was terrifying.

Jack stared at it, transfixed. His blue eyes shone with fear and horror, and then flashbacks of his time at Cadmus flooded into back.

 _A young Jack sat in a metal chair, just outside the testing labs. He wore all white- the standard outfit for people like him. He glanced at the metal walls of the facility boredly, wanting to get this stupid test over with. Every day the scientists insisted on taking vital and physical tests, usually involving checking his pulse, running for an hour, and lifting several types of weights._

 _The boredom disappeared when he heard the familiar click of a pair of expensive dress shoes down the hall. Shoes only made in Italy. Shoes only Lex Luthor owned._

" _Hello, Jack," The man's cool voice settled in the hallway like a weight._

 _Jack shot to his feet, and stared at the tall man. Luthor's emerald green eyes seemed to bore into his own, making the boy a little uncomfortable. But Jack knew he had nothing to fear. This man was his friend, Luthor had said so himself._

" _Hello, Mr. Luthor," Jack whispered quietly._

" _I know you're expecting your usual check up today, but we have something new to try out. Just a simple training course, nothing too hard," He assured the boy gently. "Do you think you could do that?"_

" _Of course, sir," The boy nodded vigorously._

" _Good. Now, go on," Luthor chuckled a bit, moving to the observation room. A giant, one way piece of glass separated Jack and himself._

 _Jack headed into the room, his eyes sweeping it quickly. It really was a simple training course with monkey bars, a rock wall, and a few lasers he had to get through. Not really a big deal._

 _A sound crackled through one of the speakers as Jack took his place by the marked starting line._

" _Ready, set, Begin!"_

 _Jack's feet pounded against the ground, moving with the rhythm of his heartbeat. He leapt off the edge of a metal platform, crossing a six-foot gap in the floor and grabbing onto a set of monkey bars on the other side. His hands flew across the bars, effortlessly swinging across._

 _As soon as he finished, he ducked underneath a dangerous laser, then jumped over another. And he was off again._

" _Making good time!" Jack grinned as he sprinted across the course. Up ahead, he noticed a silver nozzle poking out of a wall. A flamethrower._

' _Shouldn't be too much of a problem to duck underneath it', He thought. He watched the flames spew out, timing it just right as he neared his next challenge._

 _As he approached it, a large, orange flame shot out of it, and he rolled underneath, popping up on the other side on his feet. That was where everything went wrong._

 _Another flame shot out of another nozzle, unexpectedly. Jack knew he had timed this obstacle well, and couldn't understand if he had made a mistake or not. Then another shot out. And another. Soon flames spewed out of the machinery at all angles, surrounding him._

 _Jack didn't think he could scream any louder than he did._

 _The pain was absolutely unbearable for a child like him._

 _A hot flash enveloped his body, and soon he was ablaze, writhing on the concrete floor and begging for the scientists to stop it. Was this intentional? Were the scientists who had made him so strong trying to kill him? Trying to make him weak again?_

 _Suddenly, the ringing in his ears dimmed just enough to hear their frantic screams._

" _Someone turn it off!"_

" _There was a glitch in the system! We need to pull the plug on the course!"_

" _Someone call an ambulance!"_

 _The flames licked around his body, and Jack could just feel his skin and bones peeling away. A certain cool numbness radiated from his core, keeping him tethered to this world but making him drowsy. He was actually very drowsy, and his consciousness was fleeting._

 _He heard one last panicked voice among the scientists: Luthor._

" _My weapon! Look what you've done to the weapon! He can't die, we need him!"_

 _And that was all Jack heard before his world plunged into darkness._

 **Metropolis, The Docks**

 **October 1, 12:45 A.M. EST**

 **2021**

Julia's feet silently hit the ground as she landed on the concrete, and the girl took off running. Memories of training with her guardian came flooding back, and she automatically adjusted her fighting tactics to fit those she used with him.

' _Targets, three o'clock, hit them with a right hook and they should be down',_ She could practically hear her guardian's voice, Robert, in her head as she scouted the area. A group of mercenaries stood by a truck, chatting quietly.

Julia shook her head, trying to clear herself of all thoughts of her guardian. It brought up memories of her past… and god forbid she focused on those instead of the task at hand.

She sighed deeply, then sprinted towards her men. She vaulted over the hood of the truck, landing squarely on the shoulders of one of the men with a grunt. The girl was pleased to find the safety was already off his assault rifle, then grabbed it and pulled the trigger, a spray of bullets peppering her targets, the truck, and the cargo around them at the docks.

She leapt off his shoulders, then slammed a punch into the stunned man's cheek. She stepped away from the bloody scene, feeling a bit guilty about her brutality.

' _When rescuing your friends in a hostage situation, take any means necessary to make sure they survive. Including killing your enemies,'_ Robert had once said. Julia would do anything to make sure Jack and Gezie made it out of this alive.

She turned abruptly and began to walk away, but froze upon hearing a loud wheeze from the scene of her battle.

"Bitch," A raspy voice whispered. Julia tilted her head, amused, and heard the click of an ammunition clip.

"He's getting up. What an idiot," She scoffed. Battle tactics and plans ran through her head as she determined what her next step was. It would be hard to dodge all that heavy fire, and Julia had to keep moving. She had more rebels to get through tonight.

Before the soldier could fire at her, Julia flexed her fingers. Moments later, an explosion erupted from the gun she had used to mow down the mercenaries, and blew up the truck of men. An effective way of ensuring her safety, and a little beacon to all who was near her. A little challenge, saying, ' _Come and find me. I dare you to try and kill me.'_

Robert's words rang through her head once more, ' _Anything to make sure they survive.'_

And Julia continued on.

* * *

Raven slammed his leg into the knee of a soldier, then his elbow rammed into another's nose. The team had split up, taking on groups of mercenaries by themselves. Julia had volunteered to take the eastern side of the docks, while Carla and Raven were taking on the west. Avi and Travis were searching the warehouses for Gezie and Jack. Roman…. had disappeared as soon as the team had gotten into the fray. He wasn't answering his walkie talkie either.

"Damn it!" Carla gasped, a bullet whizzing over her head as one of the men fired upon her. She whipped out a bottle from her potions bag, throwing it at the man. She was square on, a thick blue liquid seeping into the skin of the man as he screamed, and a cobalt mist surrounded his body. A small monarch butterfly flitted out of the mist and into the sky; Raven almost laughed a little.

He had to admit, Carla had a good arm and an even better aim.

One attacker began to rush at her, gun pointed. They swung it like a baton at, and she ducked underneath, barely avoiding it. She popped back up, pulled back her fist, and slammed it into the nose of the enemy.

The man cried out, holding his nose which now gushed blood. Carla shook her hand, hissing from the pain, but reached out and summoned several plants from underground. They wrapped around the man's legs, causing him to fall, and they pinned him down.

Raven whistled slowly, smirking at her, "I'm impressed. Arsenault's made some real progress with you, hasn't he?"

"He's been a huge help. You, on the other hand, haven't," Carla snorted.

Raven gasped over dramatically, holding a hand over his heart.

"Me? I am the greatest help you will _ever_ get," the dark haired boy declared, a pout set firmly on his features. The druidess rolled her eyes, still dodging bullets. The walkie talkie given to her previously by Avi crackled to life, and she pulled it out from her pocket.

" _Carla, come in, Carla. We have a problem."_ Avi's voice rang over the speaker.

"Uh… what's the problem?" Carla raised an eyebrow, twisting slightly to avoid another bullet.

" _We found Gezie and Jack… but they're in separate warehouses across the docks. We can't get to both in time,"_ He reported, " _And they're both hurt."_

"That's… a problem. Want me to help Jack while you guys head after Gezie? I have a few potions for healing," Carla informed, looking in her potions bag.

" _Yeah, go help Jack. Gezie's probably injured more, so we're gonna need Travis for healing."_ Avi informed her.

"I'm on it. Carla, over and out," She put the walkie talkie in the pocket of her suit. "Raven! Can you handle the rest of these guys? There aren't that many!" She called back to him.

"Yeah! Julia is coming too, it should be easy!" He nodded, slamming his fist into the chest of another mercenary.

"Is Roman back yet? He can help, but I don't know if he bailed," She shouted.

Raven shrugged, "He's still missing, doing _who knows_ what! Just hope he isn't doing anything stupid right now!"

Carla groaned, hating that she had to leave the rest of these guys to finish her fight, but she _had_ to help Jack. She gave a simple salute to Raven, then turned, and sprinted towards the warehouses on the other side of the docks.

By the time she had reached the warehouse Avi and Travis had directed her to, Carla was a little out of breath. She figured she should probably start running after school, for reasons like this one. She grabbed the metal door of the warehouse, and slowly began to pull it open, rust and dirt sticking to her fingers. She squinted her eyes once she crept inside, her footsteps echoing through the dimness of the building.

"Jack?" She whispered softly, her voice carrying through the air. A quiet cough directed her to someone on her left. She began to walk over, holding her breath as she saw a figure lying on the floor. Jack. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw her friend was alive, then crouched down next to him. "Are you okay? Tell me what's wrong. I think I can heal it."

Jack was breathing heavily, his blue eyes pressed closed as he tried to calm his speeding heart to no avail. He was shaking slightly from the whole ordeal, and could barely get his mouth open to form semi-coherent sentences. "I'm...not hurt too bad. Gezie's hurt worse…" He coughed, using it to muffle a small sob.

Carla had never seen him so terrified. What did Elle even say to do this to him? Then, she saw it. While checking his arms over for cuts, she felt a rough patch of skin that seemed to be...burned off?

Her blood grew cold as she finally realized that Elle knew about and exploited his greatest fear. She had tortured the information out of him. It took all her willpower not to leave Jack here and hunt her down right then and there.

"She...I'm sorry. I had to tell her everything I knew. It hurt so badly," He let out a tearless sob.

Carla shook her head vehemently, "Don't apologize for that. It doesn't matter. All that matters is that you're safe, and the team is safe. We're your friends, and you matter more to us than any information."

He stayed silent for awhile, biting back the raw fear and anger he was feeling. Right now, he needed to have a level head and stay calm and try not to puke his guts out.

Then he remembered the important information he had to tell her.

"Roman… she heard you all coming then went after Roman. She's probably already begun to fight him," He breathed shakily.

" _That's_ where he disappeared to. He's… fighting Elle. Oh no." Carla's voice was barely audible as she whipped out her walkie talkie. " _Avi! Raven!_ Come in! We have to hurry it up, Roman is getting attacked by Elle and is in trouble! We have to find Gezie, clear the docks of the mercenaries, then go help him! And I need backup with Jack."

" _Got it! I'll finish up over here and help out with Jack! Julia can get Roman. Raven, over and out!"_

Carla sighed, tucking the walkie talkie into her suit. She then rummaged around in her other pocket, bringing out a bottle."It's going to be okay. We'll help you get past this. Here, it'll help you calm down." She held the light lilac liquid out to him.

Jack laughed nervously, "I don't usually drink things that are purple…" He stared at it for a moment, then gingerly took the bottle. He flipped off the cork, sniffed the top and wrinkled his nose, then began to chug it. He finished it off, then took deep, calming breaths.

"Better?" Carla raised a brow, letting out a breath of relief at the fact that he was going to be okay.

"Better," Jack nodded his head, rubbing his temples. There wasn't any anger in him anymore, no drive to kill Elle. There was only the dull, throbbing pain from the fear he experienced. But Carla's words _were_ true after all. She and the team would help him get past this… he just had to be honest. And that was something the entire team was struggling with lately. "Thank you," He finally breathed, closing his eyes and letting his head sink back against the cool concrete floor.

 **Metropolis, The Docks**

 **October 1, 12:45 A.M. EST**

 **2021**

Gezie Leclerc wasn't happy camper. Her ankle was still killing her, her right eye was swollen, and she couldn't see anything.

"Hello?" She called out into the darkness, her voice echoing through the abandoned warehouse she was stored in. She grunted as she tried to move to the side, but the ropes that bound her to the support pole in the warehouse were tight. Damn it all. The leader was anxious to find out what was happening outside. Someone was causing a big ruckus, and Gezie heard muffled explosions from out there. It was probably Julia. No doubt about it, that girl was a tank.

She sighed, trying to glance around the room for some way out. There were no broken shards of glass or pipe, and Gezie couldn't use her powers thanks to the inhibitor handcuffs on her wrists. And even if she did manage to get free, how could she run? Her ankle was hurt from that stupid high heel! Gezie mentally berated herself for not wearing her usual black flats instead.

The door to the warehouse she was held captive in creaked open ever so slightly, and her head whipped up. Were they back? Did the rebels win against her team? What was happening?

Questions flew around her head as she desperately grappled for a plan.

Soft footsteps resounded in the building, and her breathing stilled. She could only hope whoever it was wouldn't notice her.

A figure slipped into view, casting dark shadows on the wall. Gezie stayed still, praying she'd go unnoticed.

"Gez? Are you hurt?" A soft voice whispered. Travis. Thank _God_ it was him and not Elle.

"Yes. Only a little. What's going on?" She whispered hurriedly as the medic rushed over to her. He pulled a tiny knife from his pocket gingerly, one Avi had given him just in case, and sliced through her bonds. He gingerly set the knife down; Travis hated weapons.

He turned his attention back to her and shook his head, "That's not important. Where are you hurt?" He began checking her vitals, and she grabbed his hand, placing it on her ankle.

"Right there. I think I broke it. Running...in my heels," She snorted.

"That had to have hurt. Well, I-I'm sure you looked pretty in them while you were wearing them," Travis said softly, trying to help her perk up. A warm feeling steamed from his hands, and she winced as she felt a tightness in her bones.

"Doesn't matter much now," Gezie gestured to her tattered dress that was covered in blood and dirt. She sighed ruefully; it was unwearable now, and she made a mental note to go dress shopping with the other girls.

The heat stopped flowing from his fingertips, and Travis stood up. "There y-you go, all better?" He asked, holding out a hand to her. She grabbed it, and stood up, feeling relieved to find that she could stand on her ankle.

"Yes. Thank you." She sighed happily.

"Now we have to go. A-Avi… found something outside this warehouse you may want to see. Which is why he didn't come in with me," Travis nodded, then made his way back towards the exit. Gezie used the support pole she was once tied to help herself and stood up, then hurried after Travis. Once they were outside, he led her towards one of the mercenary's jeeps, and held open the passenger door for her. Gezie slid inside to find Avi rapidly typing on a laptop that was plugged into the vehicle.

"Uh, what's going on?" She raised a brow. Travis slid into the backseat behind her.

"Good, you're okay. You won't believe what I found. So Travis and I were looking for you and Jack, and we came upon these cars. The rebels left them here while they went to fight the others. So with Travis' help, I was able to break in and find this computer," Avi held up the laptop he was holding for a quick second, "Then we hacked into it. And you won't believe what I found." He passed the computer off to her.

Gezie squinted a little, reading the first page of what she was handed. And her jaw almost dropped to the floor at what she saw. Files upon files were on that computer for...dangerous weapons? The weapons Elle had been talking about at the party. There were schematics for bombs that could vaporize people or freeze places for a mile around. Guns that could shoot more bullets than any firearm that currently existed. It chilled her to the bone.

"Wh-What the hell is this, Redhawk?" She croaked, eyes as wide as saucers.

Avi pointed to the screen, "Weapons all created by LexCorp employees."

"So Elle _was_ telling the truth. Why would Luthor need to build this? He's already the president and one of the richest men in the world! Why would he need more power?" She exclaimed, running a hand through her sandy blonde hair.

"That's not all," Travis whispered from the back, "According to later files, some of the weapons have already been produced and sent out. To Bialya."

Gezie gritted her teeth; this called for some major investigation. She'd call up Ana, and the pair were going to find out what...or who exactly was in that country.

"Oh no. No, no, and absolutely no," Avi glared at her, "I know that look on your face. That's the look you get when you're planning one of your big investigations with Ana. And then you sneak around with her, poking into everyone's business and interrogate people all day."

"I-I'm not…. okay. You caught me. Maybe I planning a _little_ bit of interrogation," Gezie muttered. "But I wasn't going to sneak-"

"G-Guys? Now that we've helped Gezie and shown her the information we found, we should probably go help Jack. Carla's calming him down, but she didn't tell us if he was injured or not," Travis interjected.

Avi sighed, "You all go ahead. I'll download these files onto a flashdrive, then meet up with you all later."

Gezie nodded, then hurried out of the car, with Travis following.

Avi sighed tiredly, slumping against the seat. This was all his fault. He made those weapons for Luthor. He was the reason the team was fighting this battle now. It was all his fault. But he felt better now that Gezie at least knew that Luthor wasn't such a great guy, and what weapons he was building. And he was able to give her that information without revealing that _he_ was the one who helped design them.

However, when he hacked into the Light of Justice's files he hadn't expected these files to be in here. He would have deleted them for fear that Travis or his leader would find out his real reason for going to the school. But at the last moment, he decided to tell them, so maybe they could know what they were up against in the coming weeks. Avi had a feeling, a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, this fight was just the beginning of their war.

 **Metropolis, The Docks**

 **October 1, 01:00 A.M. EST**

 **2021**

Roman landed on the pier, his red eyes sweeping the area. A little bit of light was emitted from lamps that hung on poles, but other than that, it was rather dark. He ignited the sweat on his palm, using it to brighten the area, and noticed movement out of the corner of his eye. A slight flash of blue, that was most likely Elle, waiting to strike.

" _Roman? Come in, Roman! Where the hell are you?"_ Raven yelled on his walkie talkie, giving away Roman's position to whoever was behind him.

His hand twitched slightly; he should probably answer the other teen. However, he _needed_ to take out Elle. He knew he was much stronger than their first encounter, and he figure he could beat her now. And his teammates would probably stop him from going through with this battle

Rolling his red eyes, Roman decided not to answer. Instead, he turned the walkie talkie off as he glanced around.

"Come back for another beating?" Elle's voice taunted, her voice breaking the silence. Turning to where he thought Elle was, Roman snorted, "As if. I'm here to beat you."

"Like you could do that. You're _weak_ ," the assassin chortled from the shadows.

"And you're insane," He said dryly.

"Why, thank you. Isn't it great?" She laughed, then stepped into the dim light of one of the lamps, "You should have run when you had the chance."

"Why would I run? I have nothing to worry about. And besides, as a hero, it's my job to kick your ass," Roman smirked at her, cracking his knuckles.

"What makes you think I'm a villain? Maybe I'm a hero. And you're the villain," She raised a brow playfully.

"You're the villain, murdered half of Luthor's security team and LexCorp employees. Why shouldn't I kick your ass?" Roman deadpanned.

"Murder wasn't on today's agenda!" Elle snorted, rolling her eyes.

"It wasn't on anyone's agenda." He raised a brow.

"Oh no, it _was_ on mine. Just not until next Thursday." She flashed a smile.

Roman stared at her for a moment, then ignited her fist. "All the more reason to beat you."

She laughed once, flared her blue energy, then slipped into a crouch. She shoved off the docks and into the air like a bullet, hitting Roman head on. She pounded punch after punch into his side, eliciting grunts from her opponent, and eventually a crack from one of his ribs. Elle's knuckles were raw and had specks of blood, and Roman cussed as blood began to trickle down from his nose.

Roman pulled himself together, then ignited the rest of himself, propelling her high up into the air. He slammed a punch into her jaw, her head snapping back and making her lose her hold for a moment. The pair broke apart, each glowering at the other.

She smirked at him once again with that same taunting look, then swooped downwards towards the ground. She sped towards a light pole, extended her leg, slamming in into the base, and knocked over the piece of metal. It fell with a resounding bang as it crashed into the ground.

She quickly heaved it up off the ground, speeding like a bullet towards Roman, the pole outstretched like a spear.

Roman grunted, swooping underneath the light pole several times, missing it by mere inches. One false move and he could be swatted out of the sky by that thing.

Elle swung it like a baseball bat at his head, and it connected with his leg, making him scream and go tumbling through the sky. As Roman sailed away, he outstretched his hands and concentrated, causing a minor explosion that blew both of them back.

She landed on the docks, cracking a few wooden boards as she bounced onto the ground.

The shrapnel had cut up the boy pretty badly, and he was now oozing blood out of his upper arms and his thighs. Elle had worse though, a large piece of metal had sliced across her midsection, her black catsuit now ripped. Blood trickled through, and she winced slightly.

Several cuts littered her neck and face, and a small piece of metal was speared into her thigh. Her other leg, which was part of her cybernetics, had paint burned off of it from the explosion.

"You know, I don't think I'm going to kill you. I'm gonna make every moment of the rest of your existence painful," Elle panted slightly, her lip curled into a sneer. " _Then_ I'm going to kill you."

A growl ripped from Roman's throat as he flew forward, tackling her hard, then grabbed a fistfull of her blue hair and slammed her head back into the wooden boards repeatedly. She fired off energy bolts blindly, occasionally hitting Roman and leaving nasty burns on his skin, but the teen didn't let up his attack.

He smashed Elle's head back again and again, not stopping his assault. Blood trickled from the back of her head, splattering onto the boards.

Finally, he stumbled up onto one knee, satisfied with what he had done, then wiped a bit of her blood from his ashen cheek. Elle was breathing hard now, each one she took seemed to take more effort than the last.

The woman let out a groan, her vision swimming. Then raised a middle finger to the sky, a chuckle escaping her bloodied lips.

"You're an asshole," She muttered, taking in a ragged breath.

Roman shakily got to his feet, wincing as he moved his midsection the wrong way. Had she gotten the same rib as last time? "Tell me something I don't know," He snorted quietly.

"Polaris, I may hate you, but you're fighting for the wrong side. Luthor and his little friends are the enemy," She breathed tiredly, her electric blue eyes boring into her opponents. She was beaten. She knew that. But that didn't mean Elle couldn't try to convince him that he was wrong. "Help us. Be the hero you want to be." She stared at him intensely.

"You know, I'd join you. But then we'd both be wrong," Roman shook his head, then turned, and began to limp away. His leg was practically screaming from the pain, and he got ready to fly off into the sky.

"Wait! Where are you going? Aren't you going to finish me off?" She shouted after him, not bothering moving.

"You told me to be a hero. A hero shows mercy," He scoffed, not even looking at her and continuing on. Truth be told, he wasn't showing mercy because he was trying to be a hero, he was leaving her there because he didn't want to deal with her. He did his job and won against Elle, and Roman didn't have the energy to deal with her today.

Elle laughed darkly, gently resting her pounding head against the dock. "You're going to regret leaving me here alive."

He paused slightly, debating on whether to go back and finish it. It would save the Alpha Team a lot of trouble if he just ended it all now. But no. He'd have to deal with the team later, they were into that being a "hero" and saving lives crap.

"Then so be it," Roman muttered to himself, ignited his body, then sailed off into the night sky.

 **Metropolis, The Docks**

 **October 1, 02:00 A.M. EST**

 **2021**

Elle didn't know how much time had passed. It could have been hours or minutes; she didn't know. But all she knew was that she was in quite a bit of pain from Roman's attacks, and fury was burning in her core. She wanted to end him. She _needed_ to kill him.

But her higher ups requested that the Alpha Team stay alive… apparently they were useful pawns in this little game of chess. It was necessary to get as many as they possibly could into the rebellion, so they could slowly sow seeds of distrust within their team. If Luthor didn't have his little pawns, then the game would be much, much harder for him to play.

She groaned to herself, debating on what to do. If she went after the team now, she could be killed. After all, that little red headed brat had injured her pretty badly. But Jack, the main tank of the team, was out of it for awhile. Elle made sure she had broken him by the time she was done with their little interrogation. He wouldn't be alright after that for a _long_ time, she was sure of it.

Gezie wouldn't be able to fight either, unless that stupid Travis had gotten to her as well. Elle just hated how each of the teammates were able to help each other out. She just hated the entire team and wanted to send them straight down six feet under.

A soft set of footsteps alerted the assassin of someone else approaching, and she let out a tired sigh. "Are you here to finish me?" She said calm and evenly, immediately assuming it was Roman.

"No. But I am here to finish something," The person replied quietly. Elle peeked up a little; this was not Roman. It was the boy who traveled through shadow, Raven.

"You've got me intrigued," Elle snorted, rolling onto her side so she could face Raven.

"What drives a person to commit all these murders? What made you like this? Was it Luthor? Or something else?" He murmured quietly, his silver eyes searching hers for some sort of answer.

"Luthor was one of the reasons. My hatred for him was another. But more specifically, it was my job. That's why I was hired by my superiors, to take all those who were working with Cadmus down," She shrugged, "They were building dangerous weapons. I was stopping them."

"But you murdered people. Left a child fatherless. How does a person do that?" Raven frowned, his lips curling downwards.

"A heck of a lot of will. Your first murder is always the hardest. After that, you just get numb," She coughed a bit, flecks of blood slipping out of the corner of her mouth. "But you know, if you keep working for Luthor, you're going to have to get used to killing. He'll use you for that, like he did with me."

"Luthor can't be that bad of a person. Sure, he's shady and all that. But he can't be _evil_ , like you at least," Raven scoffed.

"You can think whatever you want. At least I'm not so evil that I'd create and plan to use dangerous weapons that could bring down countries," She chuckled darkly.

"How do you know that's true?" Raven asked, crossing his arms as he looked down at the woman.

"Well look who's playing Sherlock Holmes," Elle drawled with a sneer. She decided to change the subject after a moment, "Why do you care so much anyways? Really, so what? The girl was orphaned. It doesn't really matter, she's probably young enough to get adopted again or have some family members to take her in."

Raven shook his head, glaring at Elle. "How can you say something like that? It's like...like you're _heartless_ ," the teen muttered, his frown morphing into a scowl.

"I'm not human. I never was, so why are you expecting me to act like one?" The assassin spat, glaring right back. "You never answered my question. Why do you feel so deeply about some girl you don't know?"

The silver eyed teen gave Elle a dirty look as he admitted, "I pity her. After all, I'm in the same boat." He almost chuckled at the play on words.

"Are you…. an orphan?" Elle's eyes widened, then so did her grin when her question was confirmed from Raven's expression.

In turn, the teen's frown deepened.

"What kind of facial expression is that?" He scoffed, nails digging into his palms as he fought back the urge to punch her. "That kind of news doesn't usually deserve a grin, but I guess since you're the bad guy of course you'd find it funny."

"Oh, are you so sure that I'm the villain?" Elle questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Well...of course you are. I mean...my friends and team are heroes, we save people. You are a villain, you kill people and are the one people like my friends and I put in jail," Raven explained with a small nod.

The assassin let out a small chuckle. Looking up at the teen standing above her, she shook her head.

"Poor, misguided, little hero," Elle hummed, a smirk playing on her lips. "Just like Roman, you think I'm the villain, but is that really true? What of that one bat of old? What was his name? Red Hood? He was counted as a hero, or at least an anti-hero, though he killed. Man, what a time when he was around."

"Well...he...he _saved_ people. You just kill people to get paid," Raven accused, glaring slightly. Sighing, Elle tutted at Raven's declaration.

"Now, now, it's true I get paid, but the man I killed was making weapons for Luthor. Weapons of mass destruction that can take down _countries_ ," the assassin informed, "I mean, yeah, you can choose to not believe me, just like your hot-headed friend. Then again, what if I'm telling the truth? After, because you refused to believe me and investigate, something horrible will happen. Then...well, it's. All. Your. _Fault._ "

Raven stood there, considering what he was being told silently. How could anyone make this type of stuff up? Deadly weapons that could destroy countries? That sounded like something Cadmus might make…. after all, they did make Jack.

Raven shook his head slightly, feeling bad that his thoughts had trailed to Jack. Everyone on the team knew that Jack had connections to Cadmus, but they didn't know the specifics. Despite that, Raven was sure of one thing: Jack was no weapon. He was rough around the edges, being apathetic and detached, but he was a kind teen at heart.

"Can I make you an offer?" Elle interrupted his thoughts suddenly, her eyebrow rising.

"I don't want anything from you," Raven's eyes narrowed into dangerous slits.

"Hear me out," Elle coughed a little bit more, "Listen, I know we don't like each other. In fact, I hate you all with a passion-"

"The feeling is mutual," Raven interrupted curtly.

" _However_ , I think we both know that the weapons Luthor is creating are extremely dangerous, and no one should have that type of power. I know you don't want to go starting fights, and I'm not asking you to. But I think you should help us destroy what he's created. I'm not asking you to overthrow Luthor, or murder anyone. I'm just asking you to help us destroy the prototypes he's created, delete the files, and then get rid of the evidence."

Raven stared at her impassively; Elle made a compelling offer. He'd be able to help people out, while still not betraying Luthor. It was true that he didn't trust their president, the man still seemed shady, but it wasn't like Raven could outright defy him. He _worked_ for the man.

But now here was an offer that seemed too good to be true. Help Elle destroy the weapons, and Luthor still stayed in power.

Although… it seemed too good to be true. Raven tended to be a little impulsive sometimes, but now the teen was treading carefully in this water. He couldn't afford to make a wrong move, or risk the destruction of his team. So he couldn't say yes. _Yet._

"I can't say yes...but I won't say no. I'll think about it, and get back to you," Raven muttered quietly, ashamed that he was actually considering her proposal. The boy turned away and began to head back towards his group. He tilted his ear towards the west; he could hear police sirens coming. Time to go.

"Wait! You're just… going to _leave_ me here?" Elle shouted to him, baffled. What was with this team and not following through? Didn't they want revenge on her?

"Nah. I just don't want to deal with the police," Raven smirked to himself, taking pride in how the assasin's face paled when he glanced back at her.

"You called the cops on me?" She shrieked, "How are we going to work together when you accept?"

" _If_ I accept, I'll come get _you._ But for the time being, have fun in prison," Raven chuckled to himself, walking away as the police sirens grew louder. He smiled to himself, relishing the stream of cuss words that flew from Elle's mouth as the officers began to pull onto the scene.

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **We're back! With another super long and action packed chapter! This one was a killer, and sets the tone and pace for this season: dark and action packed. And a lot of Cadmus.**

 **Anyways, next chapter will be character development! We haven't done one of those in a while, and after all we** _ **do**_ **need to introduce the new Beta Teamer! We're excited, and you should be too. It will be a bit… filler-y, but we can't have action all the time. Sorry. That's not how this works. But then again, nothing's really ever filler in this story. It all ties together in the end.**

 **Regarding updates, winter sports season and other extracurriculars have started and are super tough, as well as the holidays are coming up. We will be posting during the holiday season, but probably only once. Don't expect your regular updates in December, as it's also midterms. We'll be jumping around.**

 **Anyways, until next time!**

 **~The Fangirls**

 **Questions:**

 **Any scene ideas for next chapter?**

 **Any predictions for Season 2?**

 **Sneak Peek:**

" **Zatanna? Who the** _ **hell**_ **is Zatanna?**


	12. S2, Episode 2: Reprecussions

**.**

 **How Far We've Fallen**

 **.x.x.x.x.x.**

 **Season 2, Episode 2**

 _~The YoungJusticeFangirls~_

 **The Academy, Mechanics Room**

 **October 22nd, 2:00 P.M. EST**

 **2021**

"You want me to use _this?_ " Julia deadpanned, holding up a bottle of spray paint like it was poisonous. She stared at the boys before her, unimpressed.

"Well, yeah," Avi nodded his head, a 'duh' clear in the way he spoke, "Can't you use spray paint? It's pretty easy. All you do is press down on the little nozzle and the paint-"

"It's not that I _can't_ use it, it's just… I _don't_ use it. I paint the real way. With brushes. And you want me to use _this?_ This hardly constitutes as art," She scoffed, a frown curling onto her lips.

"Come on, Julia. We finished the bike. Now we just need it to look cool!" Avi protested to her, leaning against the wall of the vehicle garage. Travis and Avi had finished their motorcycles last week, and were just tweaking the vehicles a little. Avi had deemed their steel gray bikes to be "too plain", and wanted to call Julia in to jazz them up.

"Cool?" Julia asked, her eyebrows raising. "It can be just as 'cool' with brushes and real paint!" Avi sighed exasperatedly, rolling his eyes. "Well, if you can't do it with spray paint I can always ask someone else," the mechanic shrugged, crossing his arms.

Julia's face turned an angry red.

"Oh, you did _not_ just say that!" She hissed, giving Avi a dirty look. "You can ask someone else? What do you mean?! I'm perfectly capable of making it 'look cool' with my brushes, but if you insist on me using," the artist sniffed, wiggling the can of spray paint a bit, " _this,_ I can."

"Great," Avi grinned, standing away from the wall. "How long do you think it will take?"

"Dunno," Julia grumbled, glowering at the other teen with a dark look.

Avi shuddered, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. Holding his arms up in a placating way as he backed up a few steps . "Alright, uh...do you want me to leave you to your work, or do you need anything?" The lanky teen asked, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

Julia rolled her eyes, shaking the can. "No, you'll just distract me. Plus, do you really want to just watch as I make your bikes look ' _cool'_ ," she huffed out the last word as she raised an eyebrow as Avi, "Plus, don't you have other things to do, like Literature homework?"

The mechanic paled, hunching a bit. "I was hoping to avoid it," he muttered, shuffling to the door. "Well...tell me when you're done and stuff. Bye." Avi walked out of the room, going to the dorms. Mostly likely to procrastinate on homework and tinker with inventions scattered in his room.

The artist just let out a grunt, going to work. ' _Spray paint,'_ she thought in her head with a sneer, ' _is_ not _real art. Stupid Avi, painting with_ brushes _is way cooler.'_

 **The Academy, Study Hall**

 **October 22nd, 3:00 P.M. EST**

 **2021**

"A-Alright, then carry the two and multiply the reciprocal-"

"Travis! I swear, I know how to do it!" Roman huffed, running a hand through his red hair, "You've been hovering over me for the last _fifteen_ _minutes_! I think I know how to do a simple trinomial equation," The boy said curtly.

"O-Okay, okay! I just want to make sure you know how! I want you to do really well on the test!" Travis held his hands up in protest. It was the last few minutes of study hall, and the medic had decided to help Roman with his Algebra test he had tomorrow. The fighter was originally planning to blow off the whole assessment, but after some protesting and chiding from Travis, who acted like his mom, gave in and began to study for his test.

"That's admirable, but I think we already know that academics _aren't_ my strong suit. Setting things on fire and kicking ass are," Roman deadpanned. He perked up a bit as the final bell rang, signaling the end of the day. He grabbed his books and shoved them into a backpack, then slung it onto his back.

"Well, thank god _that's_ over. Time to get outta here. See ya Travis, I have a punching bag to pay attention to!" Roman saluted the teen, then briskly walked to the exit.

"W-wait! We still need to cover the next section!" Travis stuttered, fretting over his friend. Roman paid no attention to him, continuing to walk down the hall.

As the medic hurried after him, he tripped over a trash can with a yell, and sprawled out onto the floor. Roman heard him and stopped walking with a sigh, rubbing his temple.

"You're so clumsy," He grumbled, striding back over to Travis and pulling him to his feet. The boy dusted his shirt off a little.

"I-I'm not clumsy, I'm blind." Travis sighed tiredly, then froze. There was a feeling of...annoyance behind Roman. "There's someone behind you. I can feel them." He whispered.

Roman's eyes widened, and he turned around to find a woman staring at him. Her dark brown eyes studied him intently, and the teen immediately tried to place where he had seen her before.

The woman tucked a stray lock of auburn hair behind her ear, then arched a perfectly manicured brow.

"You're not supposed to be roughhousing in the halls. Don't you have a class to go to?" She questioned bluntly, her voice as smooth as honey.

Roman shot Travis a glance; this was going to be bad. With Travis being timid and Roman being… himself, this conversation was headed down the train tracks of disaster.

"Actually, we just got out of our last class. We weren't 'goofing off', he tripped," Roman explained curtly. "Who are you?"

The woman tilted her head; this was new. The student seemed… _unfazed_ by her cold and calculating demeanor.

"I'm your new head of security and Missions Supervisor. I'll be heading out on missions with you all from now on," She gave him a tight lipped smile. "But you can just call me Miss Graves."

"Miss Graves… _Mercy_ -" Travis' eyes widened as he realized he was speaking to Luthor's personal bodyguard. What was _she_ doing here? "I mean, h-hello. It's n-nice to meet you, Miss Graves." He quickly covered.

Mercy Graves noticed Travis floundering to cover up his mistake, and gave him a strained smile. It wouldn't be hard for him to pick up on the annoyance she was feeling right now.

She didn't know he already was.

"Hello, nice to meet you as well. I look forward to working with you," She nodded her head. It was clear in her tone what was to happen. The Alpha Team, under any circumstance, wasn't to learn about the connection Mercy and Travis had. They weren't to know that the teen already knew her, and they most _certainly_ weren't to know how and why.

"Well, children, I have to get settled in at my new office! See you all later!" Mercy chirped with a fake smile, her heels clicking across the polished floors as she sauntered away.

Roman took a quick peek at her when she turned the corner of the hallway to make sure she was out of range, then stared at Travis, baffled.

"Who the hell… what…. _missions supervisor_? Is she coming with us on _every_ mission now?" He hissed, pissed that he now had to be babysat during a fight.

"I-I don't know. I don't even know that woman! But I think it's a great idea she's here for our safety. You get hurt the most out of everyone on the team, so this will h-help," He gave a small smile to Roman, always thinking about the teen's safety.

"I _don't_ need a _babysitter_. And besides, I've broken so many damn ribs, and I'm still fine. I don't need anyone to look out for me," Roman scoffed, almost spitting out the words, "I think you and Avi need her more than the rest of the team. You two can't even _fight_."

Travis sighed; he knew Roman was right. It really _was_ dangerous to have two people who couldn't fight going out on missions. Someone could get hurt, or worse. But wasn't that why _he_ was there, right? To heal people?

"Travis… that woman seemed familiar. Isn't she like, Luthor's personal bodyguard?" Roman raised a brow.

"Y-yes...she is. So I've heard," Travis nodded.

"This is getting pretty serious. Luthor is bringing out the big guns. Looks like he doesn't want anyone else trying to make an attack," Roman narrowed his red eyes slightly.

"To be honest...does a-anyone want another attack?" Travis stammered, biting his lip.

"Fair point," Roman sighed, conceding rather easily. His meeting with her had shaken him up a little, and he hadn't liked it.

"Y-You know what? Why don't we just forget about this, and head back to study more math," Travis quickly suggested, hoping to distract his friend from the problem at hand.

Roman grumbled to himself, "Fine, but stop hovering so much." Travis chuckled, agreeing as they walked back to the Alpha Dorms.

 **The Academy, Courtyards**

 **October 22, 3:30 P.M. EST**

 **2021**

David scoffed at Gezie and Kian as he exclaimed, "Oh my gosh! You two don't know _anything_ about art! How can you live in such ignorance of an amazing profession?"

"Well sorry. Not all of us are Julia or you," Gezie rolled her blue eyes at the artist.

"It's not _that_ great of a profession," Kian chimed in, stuffing his hands in his pockets as the trio walked through the Courtyards. David gave an over dramatic gasp. Putting a hand over his heart, the artist's eyebrows shot up as he asked, " _Excuse_ _me?!_ Did you just say what I _think_ you said? Do you even realize who you're talking to? I _worship_ that profession with my entire being and you-"

"David calm down, it's not that big of a deal," Gezie interrupted, sighing and brushing back a curl of sandy blonde hair. David opened his mouth to say something, but grunted as he ran into another teen. The two fell back, landing on their behinds with a slightly pained groan.

"Watch where you're going," David snapped, ambling up and brushing off invisible dust. The other boy just got up, stretching as he stood.

"Yeah, sorry," the teen who'd bumped into shrugged nonchalantly.

Scowling David huffed, not looking at the other teen, "Really! That's all you have to say for y-..." He cut off as he glanced at the slightly shorter teen. The artist's chocolate brown eyes widened stepping to the other teen. "What's your name?" David suddenly asked, some crazy leaking through as he grinned.

"Uh...I'm Lediv Awbree, and you are?" The golden eyed teen informed, raising an eyebrow at the glint in David's eye. ' _My, what a guy,'_ he thought dully, a laid back look on his features as he waited for the artist to answer.

"David Porter, and _you,"_ the artist hummed, walking around Lediv, looking carefully at the other boy, "are visibly _flawless_. I need to paint or at least sketch you!"

"David, calm down. You're going to freak the guy out," Gezie chided, tutting a bit. Turning to Lediv she nodded in greeting, "Sorry about David, he's a bit... _passionate_ when it comes to art. I'm Gezie Leclerc, Alpha team leader." She held out a hand for Lediv to shake after introducing herself.

Shaking it, Lediv let out another shrug, "It's not that big of a deal. Dude's got a passion."

Dropping Lediv's hand, Gezie elbowed Kian, who was sizing up the new acquaintance. The much taller teen rolled his eyes, swatting at Gezie's hand.

"I'm Kian Collins," the nineteen year old grunted to the pale teen. In turn, Lediv stuck his head out, which Kian tentatively shook. Glancing at the boy's hand, specifically his index finger, Kian commented, "Nice tattoo." He had never seen markings like that, and made a mental note to find out more about it later.

"Thanks," Lediv muttered, taking his hand back. "I guess it's pretty cool," he murmured, glancing at his finger, which had the word 'RISE' tattooed on it.

"Are you new?" Gezie arched a brow.

"To you guys, yeah," Lediv chuckled a bit, then shrugged. "I was on the Omega Team, but Mr. Rashid decided to transfer me to Team Beta since this other member on that team transferred out-"

"I'm sorry, what now?" Kian interrupted, furrowing his brows. "Team Beta? I'm on that team, and I had no clue we were getting another member."

"Oh… well… surprise? I'm your teammate." Lediv shrugged nonchalantly. "Didn't Rashid send you an email or something?"

"No. He's told us nothing," David's eyes narrowed. "Although, if you're on our team now, I suppose I have more time to paint you." He mused.

"Can you forget the painting for a second? We have to figure this out," Kian elbowed him. "So, what exactly… are you?"

"How so?" Lediv chuckled.

"Medic? Fighter? Intelligence? What exactly are you to our team?" Kian prompted.

"Ah, I honestly don't know. I can't explain to you the reason I was placed on Beta, other than the fact that Rashid wanted you guys to have another body," The teen shrugged casually.

Kian gave a subtle glance to David; who the hell _was_ this? He wasn't giving much information up to the group about himself, and didn't seem too into holding a conversation with the teens. Kian's eyes narrowed as his gut instinct told him something was up. The timing of Lediv's arrival with the recent events wasn't feeling right. Or maybe he was just paranoid. That could be it...it had to be it. This guy was too laid back to be threat, but there had to be another reason for his transferal to the Beta Team.

"So...I'd kinda like to get settled in my room before dinner. Can someone direct me to the dorm?" Lediv asked, snapping Kian out of his thoughts.

"Yeah. David? Do you mind?" The nineteen year old turned to the artist.

David nodded vigorously, and grabbed Lediv's arm quickly with a grin, "Of course! I'd love to show our new teammate his room! And while we're at it, we can talk about our painting sessions!" He began to pull Lediv down the hall, and the teen rolled his eyes at him.

As soon as the pair was out of sight, Gezie said, "At least... he seems nice?"

"I...I just don't know, Gez. Something doesn't sit right with him," The teen muttered, rubbing his arm.

"Well Kian, when something doesn't feel right for me, I investigate it. And lucky for you, Ana, one of the best journalists I know, is on your team…" She shrugged nonchalantly.

Kian narrowed his eyes, a knowing smirk appearing on his face, "Are you suggesting that I have Ana investigate Lediv's arrival?" He snorted to her.

"Maybe. I'm not suggesting it, but... " She raised a brow.

"You're implying it," He finished with a chuckle.

Gezie laughed, throwing him a secretive wink, "Exactly. Now, I have to go meet up with _my_ team. Good luck." She shook her head with a smile, heading off towards her dorm.

Kian stood there for a moment, watching her leave the hall. Did he want to look into this? Or was he just paranoid? Well...Gezie did give him her blessing. So where was the harm?

With this new found conviction, Kian headed back to his dorm, whistling the whole way,

 **The Academy, Alpha Dorms**

 **October 22, 4:00 P.M. EST**

 **2021**

Jack ran a hand through his short hair, trying to focus on his English homework. He was hilariously behind in his studies from all the classes he had to miss, and he was struggling to make it all up. Ever since the rescue he had been distracted and unfocused, barely managing to hold it all together. It was three weeks after Elle had tortured him, but he still felt the effects of her cruelty. A constant fear whenever someone turned on the stove, or when one of his teammates suggested lighting a candle.

It had been worse right after though. He avoided Roman, Julia, and Carla for days because of their fire based abilities. He hid himself away from Travis because he didn't want the empath to feel his weakness, his vulnerability. He didn't want anyone to know.

It was too late now though. Everyone on the team could tell he was straight up terrified of fire. His biggest weakness was exposed, his Achilles heel was out in the open. And that fact...it terrified him almost as much as fire. He knew he should trust his team with his fears, but to think _Elle_ and whoever she worked for had this information...it made him afraid. Not just for himself, but for his team. If Elle pulled that trick, exposing his weakness while fighting, well...it wouldn't end well. Especially for the team. He knew that his weakness, weakened the team, after all he was the strongest fighter they had, whether some of them wanted to admit it or not.

Jack still remembered how the team had reacted when they found out…

* * *

 _Jack sat in his room, trying to calm down. His mind ran over the events that had just played out._

 _Moments before, he had left his room for dinner with the team, but had entered the kitchen to find Raven cooking and the rest of the team sitting at the table. Normally the small flame on the stove would have just made him incredibly uncomfortable. Jack would have been a sweating mess, trying to hold himself together._

 _But it was three days after he had been rescued, and Elle's bout of "fun" was still fresh in his mind._

 _He remembered his body shaking. Uncontrollably. And he couldn't be in there anymore._

 _Jack had simply turned around, and headed back to his bedroom, not bothering to answer Carla when she asked what was wrong. And now here he was, sitting on his bed, vulnerable and afraid. Of a simple little thing._

 _A loud knock at his door jerked him out of his thoughts, and his head whipped around. He took another moment to calm his speeding heart, then forced himself to get up and open the door._

" _Go away," Jack scoffed when he opened it, seeing Roman standing there. He tried to close it, but the other teen immediately stuck his foot in the doorway._

" _I can break your foot like that. You might want to move it," He raised a brow, putting more force behind his actions._

 _Roman winced in discomfort. Jack was really strong, and he knew that if he didn't move it was either going to hurt for a bit, or it would be broken._

" _I'm not going away. You can't make me," He growled._

" _Then what do you want? Just leave me alone," Jack huffed, running a hand through his short hair._

" _Jack… why are you avoiding us? Please. Just tell me, and I'll go away. I just wanna know."_

 _The boy's stomach sank, and he bit his lip slightly, "I…I just don't want to talk to anyone."_

" _Is it because you're afraid of fire?"_

" _Who told-"_

" _Carla. She told everyone."_

 _Jack's heart skipped a beat. He had trusted her with that sensitive information. And she had just told everyone like it didn't matter. He had trusted her to keep his secret!_

" _Don't be mad at her. You shouldn't have been keeping secrets anyways, even though lately that seems like what everyone on this team has been doing," Roman huffed, then forced open the door. Jack let him in, moving away and going to grab onto the wall for support. He felt dizzy, and felt like he couldn't get enough air. One of his secrets was out. But not all of them._

" _Are you afraid? That I would use your fear against you? That I would use it just to gain an edge?" He snorted, "Or are you just afraid of being seen as weak?"_

" _I'm not afraid," He said a bit harshly, his cheeks flushing from embarrassment._

" _You could've fooled me," Roman remarked dryly. He stared at him for a moment, his eyes hard and cold. "Man, they're all out there trying to help you. Even I'm trying to help, and you know I'm not good at that stuff. And you just push them all away. Why? Because you're afraid? That's a really stupid reason."_

 _The floorboards outside Jack's room creaked, and both boys turned to find Raven staring at them, silver eyes wide._

" _Uh… I wanted to see if I could help… smooth things over," He explained, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly._

" _No. Go back to the team. I don't need or want your help-"_

" _Cut the bull crap, Jack. You need help. You need to get over your fear. Because the next time you see Elle, she's just gonna use that to her advantage," Roman pointed out harshly._

" _It's not just about fighting, either. It's about you living in fear. You can't just keep pushing everyone away. Let us help you. That's why we're a team- no, we're more than that. A family," Raven said softly, his silver eyes filled with concern and sympathy. He was acting uncharacteristically mature right now, something Jack wasn't used to._

" _Whoa. Dude, what's gotten into you? You're never this serious," Roman arched a brow._

 _Raven sighed, "I can be serious, but I don't like to. When you have a job like ours, where there's fighting and death all the time, you have to learn to laugh a little. It's why I joke around so much, to relieve the stress and tension of what we do. But when one of my teammates is hurting like this, I have to help. Jokes and pranks won't help that," He whispered._

 _Jack stayed quiet, staring at the floor. He felt a strange flutter of hope rise in his chest...would they really help him get over this? His eyes flicked back up to meet Raven and Roman's, and he realized they would. After all, that was what friends were for. A small, yet tired smile spread on his lips, and he nodded. Yes, he would let them help him. He trusted them enough to._

 **The Academy, Training Room**

 **October 22nd, 5:00 P.M. EST**

 **2021**

 _Thump._

 _Thump. Thump. Thump._

 _Thwack._

 _Thump. Thump._

Carla breathed heavily, glaring at the punching bag. A sheen of sweat covered skin as her covered hands fell to her side. Wrenching a glove off, she grabbed the water bottle beside her and drank the continents. Before she could go back to beating up the bag, a voice interrupted, "Hey."

Glancing at the owner of the voice, the druidess nodded back.

"Hey Julia" she murmured, taking off the other glove. She put them beside her water bottle as Julia approached.

The girl took in the sight of Carla, sweaty and tired, trying to beat up a punching dummy.

"That… wasn't all too bad for a girl who can't fight. Arsenault teach you that?" She raised a brow.

"Yeah. He's… a really good teacher actually. Patient. Tolerable," Carla nodded, wiping her forehead with a towel.

"Just tolerable? Or maybe more... _enjoyable_?" Julia smirked, wiggling her eyebrows. Carla scoffed, crossing her arms, "He's _tolerable_. Nothing more, nothing less."

"Uh-huh. So you totally haven't started to like him, even a little bit. _Sure_ ," the other teen chuckled, rolling her obsidian eyes. Julia didn't really believe Jack and Carla liked each other. Carla was too sarcastic and seemed uninterested in a relationship, and Jack...was too busy having mental meltdowns lately. She only teased Carla to get back at her for her teasing.

Carla rolled her eyes, then pulled back her fist for another punch. Jack hadn't tried to teach her more fighting skills since the dance. He was too busy trying to catch up with his schoolwork these days, and dealing with his trauma to continue helping Carla. So the girl had taken the time to continue her training, patiently waiting for the day her trainer could be well enough to help again.

"Wait!" Julia called out, examining her friend's stance. She slowly shifted Carla's hip and fist position to the left. "There. You'll get more power if you stand like this, and have a fair shot of breaking some bones. Oh! And next time you throw a kick, extend your leg out a little more. Your opponent will be taken off guard."

Carla shrugged, then slammed a punch into the dummy, making it swing much more than it previously did. "Damn. How do you know all this about fighting? I mean, I get that you're good. But you're like, a professional good," She raised a curious brow.

Julia laughed, "Yeah. I'm pretty good. Years of training with...my parents and my guardian. My parents were even better." She shrugged.

"Really? Where'd they learn to fight from?" Carla asked.

Julia shifted uncomfortably, almost like she didn't really want to share that, and her friend picked up on it.

"Oh… you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," She quickly waved her hands.

"No, it's fine," Julia assured her. "It was…. their job. Everyday, they'd go in and fight. And I guess they loved it." She said. Julia knew she was being pretty vague, but talking about her parents brought up some not so pleasant memories.

"Were… they boxers or something? Heroes?" Carla guessed, her interest piqued.

Julia glanced to the side, leaning on the wall, "Boxers… no. But I guess you could say, they were heroes." A frown tugged at her lips.

Carla knew she was pushing it a little bit, and decided to hold back. "Cool. Well, I'm sure they made a huge difference in the world." She chuckled, a little nervously though. "Want to get back to training?"

"Yes," Julia breathed, a little too quickly. She pushed herself up from the wall, and smiled at Carla. "Alright! Let's get into it! Do you know what a takedown is?" She grinned.

Carla sighed; a 'takedown' didn't sound like an easy maneuver. "Not in the slightest. But I suppose I'm about to find out."

 **The Academy, Alpha Dorms**

 **October 22nd, 6:00 P.M. EST**

 **2021**

Avi plopped down on the leather stool that was seated in front of the expensive drum set the school had supplied him, then ran his fingers over the fine instrument. It was a really, _really_ nice and expensive set, and he couldn't wait to test it out. He requested one earlier in the year, and the school had readily agreed. Under the terms that Avi kept designing their weapons, of course. He sighed at that thought, then pushed it away. He had a beautiful drum set in front of him, and not even the threat of him being responsible for a world war could ruin this moment.

He picked up the drumsticks, marveling at how they felt in his hand. They were nice, _really_ nice.

"Whatcha doin'?!" A high pitched voice called out. Avi jumped, the drumsticks flying out of his hands and across the room. He whipped around, seeing young Catori White giving him a toothy grin.

"Don't do that! You gave me a heart attack!" Avi grumbled, practically gasping for air at this point.

"Oops," Catori shrugged, her toothy grin falling a bit. She hadn't meant to scare him _that_ bad, but she supposed that meant she was good at startling people. "Oh, cool! Drums!"

"Uh, yeah," Avi nodded, a bit nervous around the energetic little girl.

"So, you play?" Catori questioned, grabbing the drumsticks while looking around the drumset. She handed them to Avi as she waited for a response.

The mechanic gave a small nod. "I'm not _that_ good, but...I _do_ like playing them," he informed, grabbing the drumsticks. "Do you... _always_ wear that dress? I don't think I've really seen you in anything else other than at the dance."

"Well not _always_. My clothes get dirty too and I have to wash them," Catori snorted, rolling her eyes, "But I do like dresses like this one, and have a lot of similar ones."

"It's...Native American, right? I have Native American heritage," Avi remarked, studying the dress.

"Yeah. My mom was Native American. I loved her a lot," Catori shrugged, tapping soft rhythms on the drum.

"Oh...what do you mean 'loved'?" Avi blurted before he could stop himself. Flushing in embarrassment, he face palmed as he apologized, "That was insensitive. I'm sorry, you don't have to answer."

Catori shook her head, "It's...alright. It's just...she died. Travis likes to tell me that she's with the angels now. Watching out for us." A bright smile lit up the girl's face as she told Avi.

The mechanic nodded slightly. "Oh...that's nice," he commented softly.

"Yeah," Catori rocked on the heels of her foot before asking, "Could you play something for me? On the drums?"

"Huh?" Avi blinked in surprise, his eyebrows raising as he asked, "Right now? Oh...yeah, sure. Any preferences?"

"Nope! Just anything!" Catori chirped, grabbing a chair and plopping down in front of Avi, an expectant look on her face. "Well...go on! Play!"

The teen chuckled, looking down at the drum set as a small grin crawled across his face. Choosing a song in his head, he counted out the beat under his breath before starting to play, tapping the high hat before really getting into the song.

Catori just watched on as Avi went into his own world. The music engulfing him as he forgot his surroundings. It was like when she watched Travis dance or sing… he completely relaxed. Blocking out the world as he did the thing he loved.

 **The Academy, Beta Dorms**

 **October 22nd, 7:00 P.M. EST**

 **2021**

"Ana!" Phoebe yelled through the halls of the Beta dorm. She opened the door to Ana's room, peeking inside. "Where the hell is she?" The girl frowned. Her green eyes zeroed in on Ana's desk, and saw that her laptop was left open.

"Huh… that's odd. Ana never leaves her stuff open, she's always paranoid that someone will find out whatever she's working on," Phoebe frowned, narrowing her eyes. Strange indeed, this was unlike the secretive journalist. But… while the opportunity presented itself, Phoebe figured she might as well take advantage of it.

She quickly walked over to the computer, her eyes flying over the lines of text on the bright screen.

"Code…? Is she… _hacking_?" The girl hissed. What was she hacking into?

It was at that moment, the door opened. Ana stepped in.

"What the…"

"Uh, there was… a fly! On your computer screen! I hate flies! But don't worry, I got it now, you don't need to freak out." Phoebe quickly lied, nodding her head vigorously.

Ana's eyes flicked confusedly, back and forth from the girl to the computer screen.

"What did you see?" She said lowly, her eyes widened in surprise. Crap. She had forgotten about leaving her computer open.

Phoebe bit her lip, "Just a little code. What was it for?"

Ana sighed, running a hand through her hair. "I was…I was hacking into the school's files. Trying to find something. _Happy_?"

"Find what?" The redhead pressed.

The journalist's eyes flicked guiltily to a file on the desk, and darted over to grab it, but Phoebe was closer and faster.

"Aqualad… Artemis….? Weren't these people the proteges of the Justice League?" She frowned, as she began to flip through the papers.

"Yeah. I was just…researching them a bit…"

"And your research requires you to hack into some files?!" Phoebe gaped at her, she glanced back at the screen, narrowing her eyes. She caught the word 'Luthor' and 'Personal Files'. "You're hacking into the _Academy's_ personal files?!"

"Maybe…. don't look at me like that, Phoebe! This is important! The person I'm searching for could help us with the Illegal Weapons situation," Ana protested softly, moving to shut the door of the room. Just as she was about to shut it, Jace popped her head in, rubbing her eyes tiredly. She was up from a nap, hearing her teammates bicker and argue over the files, and had heard everything.

"Ana… are you looking for those teenagers? The ones who were in the files we found on our first day here?" She whispered.

Ana was horrified to find someone else was in on this, and groaned. She grabbed Jace, pulling her inside the room, and slammed the door shut.

"Yes. I am. I'm looking for Zatanna Zatara, because I believe she can help us find the other members of that covert team, and they can help us figure out this whole problem. Now that you all know, you can never, _ever_ tell anyone. Or else I might have to kill you," Ana sniped, a warning look in her eyes.

"You're kidding, right?" Phoebe laughed loudly, then trailed off nervously, uncertainty boiling in her green eyes. "You're... _not_ kidding…"

"We're looking for the team? We're looking for _Zatanna_?" Jace said excitedly, practically bouncing up and down.

"Zatanna? Who the _hell_ is Zatanna?" Phoebe snorted, "Don't think I've ever heard _that_ name before!"

"She was a magician! She used to be a protege to a Justice Leaguer! Before… the team she was on broke up," Jace explained.

"Oh yeah! I remember her! She was the magician that used to go toe to toe with Klarion all the time! Man, we're looking for her? No kidding?" Phoebe began to bounce a little, her face stretching into a grin. "Let's get started!"

"Do I _ever_ kid?" Ana asked dryly, then moved to sit down at her desk, then typed rapidly. "Well, it doesn't matter. You're helping me now. We're hacking into the Academy's database."

* * *

 **A/N: Well then, hope everyone had a very Happy Holiday Season! Sorry for the late post, but we warned you that updates would be slow! We hope you enjoyed that chapter~ Next chapter is going to be interesting! Then again, when is it not?**

 **Next chapter will be less fillery, and a lot more action-y! It's gonna be… pretty insane, honestly. As you may have noticed, in this chapter we did a 3 week timeskip. We'll be doing flashbacks periodically this season as a way to show you what happened during that period of time! We didn't have enough time to show you all of the repercussions of last chapter, but we will definitely be showing Jack's growth!**

 **Now that midterms are over, you may expect more regular updates, but no promises! So Happy Holidays, hope you enjoyed!**

 **Please Review, and let us know what you think about this chappie!**

 **See ya next time!**

 **~The Fangirls**

* * *

Sneak Peek:

" **Well, well. You've come to your senses. I knew it, you didn't have it in you to refuse."**

* * *

 **~Questions~**

 **What does your OC think of Lediv from what you've seen so far?**

 **What is your OC's favorite part of the Holidays they celebrate?**

 **What is your OC's favorite cookie?**


	13. S2, Episode 3: Convolution

•

 **How Far We've Fallen**

 **.x.x.x.x.x.**

 **Season 2, Episode 3**

 _~The YoungJusticeFangirls~_

 **The Academy, Beta Dorms**

 **October 27th, 10:00 A.M. EST**

 **2021**

"Well, Lediv. What do you think of the team so far?" Kian asked casually, getting himself a glass of water in the kitchen. He stared the boy down, watching as he avidly played video games. Kian pursed his lips, noting that the new kid wasn't too good at it.

In turn, the other teen shrugged slightly, saying, "I guess it's pretty cool. Dorms are about the same as in the Omega quarters, so…" He trailed off, shrugging yet again.

It seemed that Lediv shrugged a lot. He didn't really...care about much. He was just a laid back, pretty chill guy. Kian honestly didn't know how Lediv made it in, or why he was even there. Which made his appearance on the Beta Team even more suspicious. Either Lediv was just hiding his abilities, or he was actually useless in the field. So why was he on the Beta Team? Did Rashid personally put him on the team? Weren't there better Omega candidates? Suspicious indeed.

"Yeah," Kian nodded, leaning against a counter. He sipped on his glass of water before asking, "Would you like a drink too?"

"Nah, I'm good. I'm gonna go settle in my room," Lediv informed, exiting the kitchen and going to his room.

Kian watched Lediv go, observing the odd teen as he went to his new room. He was probably going to sleep again, because that's what he had been doing all day. Shaking his head, the nineteen year old put his glass of water down.

A few days ago Gezie had suggested, very 'subtly', that he ask Ana to investigate Lediv. Of course, he thought this was a good idea, as the new Beta member just gave him a bad feeling. Maybe it was paranoia...or maybe it was something more. All Kian wanted to do was confirm one or the other. Maybe then he'd be more at ease when Lediv was around if it was paranoia, but if it was something more...Kian shook his head. He didn't want to think about that. Not until he actually got some information on Lediv. And the best way to get that information? Ana Holmes.

' _She certainly lives up to her last name,'_ Kian thought, letting out a deep breath as he stopped outside of the journalist's room. Pursing his lips, he raised his hand to knock on the door, when it suddenly opened.

"Gee you're slow. Gezie told me that you were coming, but I didn't think you'd take so long," Ana scoffed, rolling her eyes as she retreated into her room. She gestured for Kian to enter and close the door.

Kian blinked in confusion; what didn't Ana know? The boy cleared his head, then quickly stepped inside.

"So...you know what I'm here for?"

"Lediv Awbree? The seventeen year-old male that just joined our team? Due to a request from Mr. Rashid and the fact that the Omega team is tearing itself apart right now?" Ana deadpanned, staring straight at Kian.

"H-How did you-"

"I was able to hack into Lediv's email. He deleted everything else except for that email from Rashid. I don't know why," Ana huffed, gesturing for him to take a seat.

Kisn plopped down in a beanbag chair, "Wait. The Omega team is tearing itself apart?" He whispered.

"Yeah. Didn't you hear? Everyone's choosing sides down there. Apparently some rumor of a mole," Ana shrugged.

Kian was silent for a minute, rubbing his chin. "This is fishy. This is really fishy. No way this isn't a coincidence," He sighed.

"Exactly. Which is why you want me to investigate him more thoroughly, don't you?" Ana questioned, sitting on her office chair with a raised eyebrow.

Kian nodded, a bit surprised at Ana's bluntness. But he supposed it couldn't be helped as he nodded slightly, answering, "Uh, yes...how do you know these things anyways?"

In a rare twitch up of her lips, Ana shook her head, informing him, "I must keep an air of mystery in some parts of my life, but it's mostly simple deduction. A guessing game if you will." Clearing her throat, she got back on track. "Now, we have more pressing matters to deal with," she hummed, spinning to the computer as she finished, "Lediv Awbree. More importantly, how to get more information on him without getting him suspicious of us. So...what do you gather of his personality from what you've seen?" She grabbed her computer. Opening it as she turned back to face Kian, hands hovering over the keys as she awaited his answer.

"Well...he seems lazy and not too bright, but there's just something about him that makes me...I don't know, uneasy," Kian shrugged, raising an eyebrow as Ana's fingers flew over the keys. "What are you doing anyway?"

"What I always do: listen and write things down," the journalist shrugged, closing her computer and gesturing for Kian to stand. Holding out her hand, she assured, "I'll get down to the bottom of this case. I usually do."

Kian nodded, shaking Ana's hand and he turned to leave when Ana let out a harsh laugh.

"We're not done, come on. I usually don't like it, but you can lean over my shoulder. Most clients like to see me in action, at least for things like this," she chuckled, sitting quickly and rolling to her desk. Kian followed, leaning on the desk with one hand, the other by his side.

"You can't tell anyone about this, or else...well, I think you're smart enough to know not to mess with this. Plus, you're the one who wanted me to do this," Ana hummed as the sound of keys clicking filled the room.

Kian nodded, watching the screen with a curious expression. He didn't quite get what it was, but he did know that Ana was hacking.

Tutting, Ana swore under her breath as her fingers flew against the keys almost as fast as the green symbols and letters flew across the screen. "Triple encoded...you're good Luthor," she scoffed, smirking as Lediv's file finally popped up nicely, "but not good enough."

"Triple encoded?" Kian questioned, snapping the girl out of her triumph.

"Yeah. Other files weren't, not even Jack's...Lediv must be very, very important to Luthor," the journalist murmured, "Curious…" She trailed off for a second or so before shaking her head and clearing her throat. "What do you want to check first? His origins perhaps? Maybe his powers?"

"Huh?" Kian snapped out of his thoughts of Ana hacking into others' files, "Um...origins. That sounds like a good place to start."

Ana nodded, humming in a 'Ah-ha!' kind of way. "Odd. Instead of 'Lediv Awbree', it's a project name...this certainly got interesting fast." Scrolling through the sections that were neatly labeled, taking note of some of the more 'outstanding' words she glanced at, she waved her mouse a bit, and informed, "Right here contains the information of his history...if someone finds out that you were involved in this, are you prepared for the consequences? They could be dangerous, or it could be the end of your time here."

Kian paused, pursing his lips as he stared at the younger teen. After a few moments of contemplation, he nodded, "Yes, I am. As a hero, it's our job to find out whether or not someone or something is dangerous to ensure others' safety."

"Alright," the journalist hummed, muttering under her breath as she clicked to zoom in slightly, "Spoken like a true do-gooder."

Instead of a written document like most students, Lediv's history was a multitude of videos with different dates and labels. Biting her lip, Ana chose the first video eyes widening as she saw what is contained.

Kian couldn't believe his eyes. It was a time lapse. Doctors changing out in front of a tube. Soon something started to take shape: a child. He couldn't help but let out a slight gasp as Luthor stepped into view. He chatted with some of the doctors while he took in the project that was being grown. It seemed that he wasn't too satisfied, using a sign that was obviously meant to tell them to speed up the process. What for, he didn't particularly know. Yet.

Ana zoomed in on the clipboard a doctor held. Information was written all over, only some things truly visible without having to really be there. She jotted down some more important things, such as Luthor being one of the people who'd put in his share of cells to create Lediv, and that Lediv was actually a project.

"It's obviously Lediv," Ana whispered, skipping forward a bit, "This is his file...it's Lediv."

The end was a bit unsatisfying as Lediv was brought out of the tube. The date was roughly a few days after when he'd been 'born'. The now toddler was unmistakable, impossible to miss that he was Lediv Awbree.

Suddenly the video exited on it's own and a timer started on Ana's computer screen.

"No...no, no! I have important files on here for other cases," she whimpered, losing the air of calm the journalist usually had about her. As she tried to stop the clock, Kian was frozen in surprise. Their new teammate was grown in a tube. He couldn't get past that fact, as he stared into space as Ana panicked.

A heavy sigh escaped the journalist as she relaxed. She'd saved the files in her drive before Lediv's, but the boy's files were gone. No trace of them ever being in her computer. Glaring at Kian, she socked him in the shoulder, breaking him from his thoughts.

Rubbing his shoulder, the nineteen year old huffed, "What was that for?"

"Nothing," Ana sighed, rubbing her forehead, "Now, remember tell no one what you saw, act normal, and get out."

Kian nodded slowly, going to exit the journalist's room. Stopping as he put a hand on the door knob, he asked over his shoulder, "Shouldn't we tell the team? As well as Alpha?"

"Of course," Ana snorted, rolling her eyes, "I'll inform them, now shoo."

"Alright...thanks for the assist," Kian murmured, opening the door. His lips twitched up slightly as Ana scoffed, "I was gonna investigate him anyway."

"You two a thing?"

Kian jumped slightly as he almost ran into Lediv. Color drained from his cheeks as he gagged slightly and shook his head. "Barely friends. Pretty much just acquaintances," he informed, brushing past Lediv. It was strange to see him right after he'd found out that Lediv was grown. In a tube.

"Alright," the teen shrugged, going on his way, back to his room.

 **Metropolis Prison**

 **October 27th, 11:00 A.M. EST**

 **2021**

Raven Arisato walked down the hall of the Metropolis City Prison, his silver eyes flicking to the guards that flanked him. He shouldn't have even come here, the boy thought with disgust. Going behind his teammates back like this wasn't how a hero acted. He couldn't believe he's stooped so low. Was this how far he'd fallen? To the point where he was hiding things from Gezie and the team, and sneaking around Metropolis?

"I'm not a hero," he breathed to himself, rubbing his temple.

"Here we are," the guard on his right said, going straight to a keypad on the far wall. Raven looked away, as commanded by the other guard, while he punched in a few codes and did a finger scan. The thick, metal door slowly stood open, revealing a short hallway.

"In you go. You have thirty minutes of visitation time. Use it wisely."

Raven nodded seriously, taking a deep breath, then began to walk inside. His light footsteps echoed down the hall, giving an eerie feel to the whole situation. He finally entered a large, white-painted room with a metal table that was bolted to the concrete floor. At that table, sat Elle Bakker, her blue eyes eagerly watching the newcomer. Her hands were bolted down to the table with some high tech handcuffs which relieved Raven a little.

"Raven Arisato." Elle's voice rang softly but clearly through the interrogation room, a grin spreading across her face. "Well, well. You've finally come to your senses. I knew you didn't have it in you to refuse."

Raven glanced guiltily at the floor, his fists balling, "You shouldn't be so sure that I'm here to accept your little offer. Maybe I'm here to force more information out of you."

"Come on, don't lie to yourself! We both know why you're here. To help me take Luthor down," She breathed.

" _No._ I'm not here to take him down. I'm just here to help you destroy those weapon files, to make sure they don't hurt anyone. Then I'm done, Elle. Do you hear me? We go back to being enemies," He snarled.

"My, my. So...passionate about doing the right thing. Raven, dear, you're still lying to yourself. You're pretending to play hero, when really you're just a scared little kid. You don't even know what the right thing is," Elle chided, shaking her head slowly.

Raven glared harshly at her, "Don't you go talking about doing the right thing. You tortured Jack. You're a fucking monster, and I don't think it's sunk in yet that no matter how much you claim to be doing good, no one will ever see you differently."

"Careful there. You forget who made the monster. Society, and the man you work for." Elle said calmly and evenly, even though a muscle ticked in her cheek. Raven was sure that if Travis was here in the room, he'd be overwhelmed by the amount of anger in it. "Our time is almost up. Your choice?"

He was silent for a moment, staring at his reflection in the metal table. This would be a quick solution to the weapons problem, and the team would be able to focus on school…

"Alright," He whispered, barely audible. "I'm in."

"Good. I'll contact you when we're ready," Elle grinned. The door to the prison cell swung open, and the guards motioned for Raven to leave. He shot one last glare at the assassin, then strode out quickly. As he left though, he couldn't help but feel like he had just sold his soul to the Devil.

 **Metropolis**

 **October 27th, 12:00 P.M. EST**

 **2021**

Carla slammed a punch into the cheek of the man she was fighting, panting lightly. He dropped like a sack of bricks, and hit the ground. Hard.

Roman sprinted up from behind her, smirking happily at the thief she just took down, "Nice catch, O'Connell! You're really gettin' your moves down!"

"Yeah, I really am. Did you see that punch? He was it like a light!" Carla grinned, laughing happily.

"That thief didn't even know what hit him!" Roman chuckled.

"Yeah? Well, Carla O'Connell hit him!" She smirked triumphantly. She had a decent grasp on fighting, thanks to all the help from Julia. Roman could instantly tell the other girl had helped with Carla, and was pretty impressed with how much she was able to teach her.

Avi Redhawk hurried up from behind her, panting slightly from the long run. "Nice job, you guys. Way to catch him, for a moment I thought he was going to get away."

"Well, nice job tracking him down. We wouldn't have caught him if you didn't," Carla shrugged. They group of three had gone out today to patrol the streets, and had heard of a thief that struck convenience store ATMs all over Metropolis. Avi had immediately gotten to work, and began to track the man down. Within a few hours, the thief was caught and Carla had taken him down. The teens had gone after a relatively minor and easy opponent, as it was a good change of pace from hunting Elle all the time. Carla, Roman, and Avi liked not having their life threatened every time they went up against a bad guy.

Roman glanced back at a police car that was pulling up to the curb. Two officers hopped out, and immediately produced a pair of handcuffs from his pocket. Snapping them around the robber's wrists, he hauled the dazed man to his feet, and led him along to the cruiser.

"Thanks. We've been looking for that guy for weeks now," The officer sighed as she shot the group a small smile. She began to walk back to the cruiser, and motioned for them to follow.

"Not a problem. Glad we could help," Avi grinned, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

The woman nodded as she stopped by the car, "Well, now we'd like to-"

She was promptly cut off by the sound of the police radio crackling to life, a very panicked voice coming on the broadcast.

"All units, we need backup! I repeat, all units, backup at the Metropolis Prison! A group broke in and freed a prisoner! They're still on the lower levels on the prison, but the group is blowing through our security like it's nothing!" The man yelled.

Faint sounds of gunfire and explosions could be heard, making Carla's eyes grow wide. A group broke in to free one prisoner? She hoped it wasn't who she thought it was.

"I repeat, all units-"

And the line went dead.

The group of people was speechless for about two seconds, before the officers jumped in their cars and fired up the ignition. The woman they had previously been talking to saluted them, then sped off.

"Break out? This sounds like our type of party," Roman grinned a little, looking at the others.

Carla pursed her lips skeptically, "Are you sure? We could totally leave this to someone more qualified. Like, people who are actual heroes. Avi and I can't even figh-"

"Nope. That's not even a valid excuse," Roman chuckled, shaking his head. "You've got your spells, and you just knocked that thief out. O'Connell, you've seriously come a long way. And as much as I hate to admit this, we need Avi. He has to hack us through the security systems so we can get inside that damn prison."

"Sounds like a plan. But we have to hurry. We don't know how much time we have," Avi added with a nod.

"Alright!" Roman grinned like a madman, beginning to jog in place to get his powers fired up.

"You have no idea how stupid you look right now," Carla mumbled dryly to him, shaking her head. Her eyebrows furrowed for a moment as she realized something, "Uh, Avi? How exactly are you going to get there? You can't exactly fly…"

"Ha! You all _think_ I have no mode of transportation, but you're _wrong,"_ Avi cackled quietly, whipping out his phone and pressing a few buttons. Carla arched a brow, glancing around in confusion. What the hell was he planning this time? Was he getting them a helicopter as transportation or something?

Her first question was promptly answered when she heard a loud roar coming down the street, and then she spotted a vehicle flying towards them.

"What the…" She gaped as a bubblegum pink motorcycle stopped near them.

"Pink?" Avi blinked in confusion, "Julia painted it _pink_? I thought I told her red!"

Carla burst out laughing, her shoulders shaking,"Oh yeah! She told me about that! She said that you were making her use spray paint, so she got revenge by painting it pink! It was _hilarious_ because you didn't even notice until now! You were too busy!"

"Pink is a cool color. There's nothing wrong with pink. I love pink," Avi snapped back, rolling his eyes. He started to grin again as he checked out his ride, "But look at her. One of the finest vehicles in the world, designed by yours truly and Travis." He sighed happily, gazing at the piece of machinery lovingly. "See, Carla? Your _magic_ can't make a ride as sweet as this. Only science can. This once again proves my argument that science is better than magic," He snorted.

"My magic may not be able to make a motorcycle, but it can destroy one. Do you want to see? Because I can demonstrate," Carla said dryly, crossing her arms.

Roman chuckled loudly, "Oh man! You two fighting is actually super entertaining. My bet is that Carla's gonna give Avi the beat down if he keeps trashing magic."

Carla shot him a glare, silently telling him to stay out of their argument. She remembered the attack on the prison, and let out a tired sigh. They should probably get moving, they were only wasting precious time. "Okay, well, we have to go. Prison, remember?"

"Let's go," Avi nodded, grabbing his now painted pink helmet from the back of the motorcycle, and putting it on. "Carla? You want a ride?" He smiled a bit smugly, patting the back of the vehicle, "I bet science could get us there quicker than magic."

Carla narrowed her blue eyes, and sighed. The girl grabbed the other pink helmet, and slid it on. She climbed on the back of the vehicle, and gingerly wrapped her arms around Avi. The mechanic revved the engine, then took off down the street, Carla letting out a little scream.

Roman laughed at the pair, done with his jogging and then ignited his sweat, soaring off into the sky.

 **The Academy, Rashid's Office**

 **October 27th, 01:00 P.M. EST**

 **2021**

The silence in Amun Rashid's office was deafening. It consumed all six people inside of it, strengthening the tension that filled the room.

Phoebe Phantom's green eyes flicked back and forth between Mr. Rashid and Ana Holmes, watching them both uneasily.

Jace, Ana, and herself had been called down to the Principal's office five minutes ago, and were now in the room with Rashid himself, Harvard, and Mercy Graves.

"Well, girls, let's get started. Shall we?" The principal prompted, gathering the papers on his desk, and letting out a sigh. "You were all called here today due to an… anonymous tip. The person described that you three were hacking into the school's personal files."

The girls sitting before him were speechless for a second, trying to gather their thoughts and think of what to say next. Did one of the girls who hacked into the files tell? Did someone else outside of their little circle know?

Ana recovered first, and quickly spoke up, "So, you trust this anonymous source? More than two honest, and respectable students?"

"It's not that we don't trust you, we just take this sort of thing very seriously. We like to be through when keeping our information secure, and address any threats," Mercy Graves spoke up from where she was standing.

"Well that's stupid! We had absolutely nothing to do with that!" Phoebe said heatedly, her green eyes flicking nervously to Ana. Jace looked like she wanted to cry, and whimpered softly.

"Keeping your personal information safe is _not_ stupid," Mercy narrowed her brown eyes.

"But you get the point. Phoebe, Jace, and I were in no way participating or associated with the hacking into the personal files," Ana continued on.

Phoebe raised a brow, impressed. Ana sounded like a lawyer right now. She probably had experience with this type of stuff, the girl thought wryly.

"Hmm. Well, we'll trace the computer it was hacked from and see for ourselves," Mercy said flatly.

"I'm way too sober for this," Harvard sighed from the back of the room, rubbing his eyes. "Listen. They said they weren't involved with it. Let's just let them go back to their dorm, and we can investigate later. We have no evidence that they were involved."

Harvard's eyes met Mercy's, and it seemed to be a contest of will and stubbornness. Neither was willing to give in to the other.

"As much as I'd like to investigate more, Harvard is right. Girls, you may go," Mr. Rashid replied in a clipped tone, narrowing his eyes at them. He shot a few glares at Mercy and Harvard, and the two backed off from each other. Apparently, there was some tension and animosity between the two, and it didn't go unnoticed by Ana.

"Thank you, Principal. Good luck with the remainder of your investigation," She stood up, motioning for her teammates to follow.

The girls quickly filed out of the office, shutting the door behind them. They were silent as they walked down the hall, afraid to speak until they were out of range of the room. Finally, the group turned the corner and merged into another hallway, and Phoebe looked at the girls.

"What the hell do we do?" She whispered hoarsely. "We almost got caught!"

"The real question," Jace began quietly, "Is how did they find out? I don't think anyone here told...we all vowed not to."

"So that means someone was eavesdropping," Phoebe deadpanned, her eyes narrowing. "But who? I don't think anyone on our team would eavesdrop on us."

"It couldn't have been anyone on Alpha...they weren't even in the dorm when it happened. I don't think David or Kian would betray us that easily either," Jace sighed.

"I don't think it was them either," Ana interjected. 'However...I have my suspicions now, due to recent events." She explained. Ana was quickly piecing together the parts of the puzzle, and it was increasingly obvious that she was making deductions about who it could be.

"Wait...you think it was the new kid? Lediv?" Phoebe asked, raising a brow. "He seems...pretty unintelligent though. And lazy." She snorted.

"I don't know, but it does seem a bit suspicious that when I hacked into the school's files to find information on him, suddenly Rashid finds out about it."

"So you're saying...he told Mr. Rashid to prevent you from finding out more about him?" Jace whispered, her eyes wide. "Sneaky."

"And smart. That doesn't seem like Lediv at all. He's so...lazy," Phoebe shook her head.

Ana sighed, "I'm not _saying_ that he turned us in...but it is a theory of mine. I'll have to investigate it more," She mumbled. Her eyes swept the group, "But one thing's for sure: we have to watch our step from now on."

Jace shivered lightly, "One false step-"

"And we're finished."

 **The Academy, Alpha Dorms**

 **October 27th, 03:00 P.M. EST**

 **2021**

"So, let's get this straight. It's been about three weeks since the fight at the docks, and you _still_ haven't been able to figure out who Luthor is shipping those weapons to?" Julia deadpanned, stirring her cup of hot tea. She was chatting with Gezie at the kitchen table, and their conversation had eventually turned to Luthor's illegal weapon production, and what exactly to do about it. Gezie Leclerc had been researching the situation for awhile with Ana, spending hours and hours looking into who exactly the illegal materials were being shipped to. After sifting through every file and plan Avi had given to her, Gezie had eventually found absolutely nothing that gave away the buyer. It was disappointing for her, and she had really hoped to find a lead, but the girl decided she could only play with the cards she'd been dealt and keep on searching.

"Yeah, I haven't. It's been rough. Ana and I searched for awhile, but we weren't able to divulge anything out of those damn files," Gezie huffed, taking a small sip of her tea. She was exhausted, and it was very apparent. Her hair was often tied up messily, and the dark circles seemed to grow darker with every passing hour. The toll of being a leader was really hitting her hard. And Julia, the ever observant tank of this team, had noticed for awhile.

"Gez...maybe you should take a break. Take a minute to cool down, focus on your studies. It's what Jack is doing," Julia suggested to her, gesturing to Jack, who sat over on the couch.

"I can't. Someone has to get to the bottom of this! What if these weapons hurt someone? I can't have this on my conscience!" Gezie said, her voice panicked as all the different scenarios began to play out in her head.

Julia's eyes widened as she noticed her friend's panicked demeanor, and she put her hand on her arm, "Calm down. You need to take a break. You're becoming too stressed, and you'll give yourself a panic attack if you keep going on like this."

Jack, who was preparing for an upcoming history test, frowned as he heard Gezie's outburst. He had to silently agree with Julia, Gezie was becoming obsessive. It was only a matter of time before she turned to alternative methods to find her answers, and that alternative method was looking like Elle. Jack hoped his leader had enough sense to not trust and team up with Elle. He had to prevent this.

The boy knew Gezie was looking for the buyer of the weapons, and he knew exactly who it was. Jack had been with Luthor for a long time, and the man trusted him enough to have him in the room during business deals. But...he couldn't decide who to choose. His team or Luthor?

"We don't have time to relax! We have to figure out what the Light of Justice is planning! They kidnapped Jack and I-"

"Gezie." Jack's voice came calmly from across the room, and she immediately stopped and stared at him. The leader had almost forgotten he was in the room. "I know who the buyer is."

Those six words settled into Gezie for a minute, and her mouth was agape. He knew? And he didn't tell her?! That didn't matter right now though.

"Who?" She whispered hoarsely, blue eyes as wide as saucers.

Jack took a deep breath, biting his lip. "A few months ago Luthor was on the phone with someone, and they needed a new type of weapon to combat their enemy. He used the name Queen Bee. I didn't look into her, but I believe she's in Bialya. So that checks out," He muttered.

"Queen Bee? That's who?" Gezie asked incredulously, then immediately grabbed her phone off the table. "I've got to call Ana and-"

"Absolutely not!" Julia interjected, snatching up the girl's phone. In one swift movement, she deposited it in her backpack. "Take a break. Relax. You can't keep chasing these answers forever."

"Julia's right. This will consume you if you don't stop for a minute," Jack added from the couch, cracking open his history textbook again.

"So, you want me to relax? Have a girl's night out, maybe?" Gezie scoffed, crossing her arms.

"Absolutely _not._ That was a disaster, and I don't want to relive that," Julia relied instantly, holding up a hand.

"Maybe she needs a nap," Jack suggested, a grin creeping slowly onto his face.

"Like a two year old?" Gezie rolled her eyes.

Jack chuckled softly, "Well, it's not _just_ for toddlers. After all, Travis makes Catori take them. And if Catori, who's probably the coolest kid who lives in this dorm, takes naps, I bet you can too." He teased, blue eyes sparkling.

Gezie gave him an unamused frown, then it softened. She really hadn't gotten a good nights sleep in while, she'd been too worried about this Weapons situation. Every night the possible outcomes of this whole problem would haunt her, leave her wondering about the future for hours into the night.

"Actually… that might be a good idea. I might take a nice nap, stargaze a bit… it would be a nice change of pace," She replied, her features softening.

Julia frowned; Gezie looked so old in this moment. It was like every fight, battle, and task as leader she had to do was catching up to her. She looked so weary and worn. Like if she had to handle anything else she might just break under the pressure. Then the teen realized that the pressure _was_ slowly breaking her, the pressure of holding the team together despite all their secrets and lies.

"Yeah, get some rest," She whispered, rubbing the leader's arm comfortingly. As Julia watched her friend head off to bed, she glanced at Jack.

"You could have told her Queen Bee was Luthor's buyer sooner. After all, you _are_ on her team," The girl said coldly.

Jack's face remained impassive, "I may be on this team, but I have a loyalty to Luther first and foremost. I will not compromise sensitive information-"

"You'd better decide whose side you're going to be on, Jack Arsenault. Because you and I both know war is coming, and lines are going to be drawn. When that happens, you'd better know what damn side you're on. Because I know who _I'm_ standing by," Julia hissed, her obsidian eyes narrowed dangerously. She decided to leave him with those words, her chocolate brown hair fanning out as she turned and left abruptly.

Jack sat on the couch for a moment, silent and unmoving as she retreated to her bedroom. He heard her door slam shut, and pursed his lips. Best not to push her today, he thought. Jack then cracked open his History textbook, and continued to study.

 **Metropolis**

 **October 27th, 05:00 P.M. EST**

 **2021**

"Figures. We're too late," Carla deadpanned, surveying the prison yard. Her blue eyes narrowed as she saw the large truck tracks that ran across the grass, and the large gaping hole in the prison fence.

"Probably because we were arguing for so long," Avi rolled his eyes, taking a long look at the scene. Police officers were still gathering their bearings and trying to get the prison under lockdown to prevent more escapes.

"Where the hell is Roman?" Carla squinted, peering around in the skies for their teammate.

"No clue, he probably went rogue or something again," Avi huffed. He noticed an officer nearby, and hopped off his bike to speak with him. "Excuse me, sir! Can you tell me who exactly was broken out of here? I'm taking a class on journalism at Metropolis University, and I'm going to write an article on this history escape," He lied smoothly.

"Oh," The officer gave him a puzzled look, then shrugged. "So far, only one prisoner has escaped. Her name is Elle Bakker, and goes by Burst on the streets. She's a cyborg that works with a gang-"

"Do you know which way she went?" He asked hurriedly.

"Uh, actually, they just left the prison a few minutes ago. There's a high speed chase happening at the corner of Main Street and 5th Avenue-"

"Thanks!" Avi shouted, hopping back on his bike. The engine roared to life, and the pair sailed down the street, leaving the police and this prison in the dust.

Avi and Carla rode in silence, the former keeping his eyes peeled for the Rebels and Elle. He abruptly hit the brakes when he saw a few police cars that were blocking the road, and pulled off to the side of the street.

"Get down!" Avi yelled, pulling Carla onto the pavement as a bullet zipped by their heads.

Several large vans were parked haphazardly at one end, while police cars blocked the other. The rebels in the vans fired heavy sprays of bullets at the policemen, and Avi flinched every time he heard the shatter of glass. Seeing a nearby dumpster, he grabbed his teammate's arm and dragged her behind it, ducking down as another bullet bounced off the side.

Carla narrowed her eyes, staring at the sky as she noticed a figure dancing around,"Is that…Roman?" The teen was zipping around in the sky, dodging bullets, and trying to take out s he as many rebels as he could from his position.

"Yeah, that's Roman," Avi replied, his mouth going dry as another round of ammunition ripped into the sky.

Carla scoffed, "That _idiot!_ He's going to get himself killed. We have to help," She sighed, rummaging around in her pouch for some potions.

"We can't just do that, we'll get killed-"

"Avi-" Carla interrupted, looking at him sternly, "I don't want to have to go to a funeral next week. So get up, we're helping. And besides it'll be just like initiation. Just...more bullets and less people."

"I don't have powers!" He protested, throwing his hands up," And you two will be fighting that alon-"

Avi suddenly stopped, seeing as the rebels threw a few canisters out into the open area. His first thought was that they were grenades or some type of explosive, his technological mind racing to find the answer to the question of what exactly those canisters were. Then, they activated.

A green, thick smoke began to pour out of them, and the rebels snapped on gask masks immediately.

"Move!" Avi hissed, his brown eyes widening. The two of them dove for the pavement, pulling their shirts over their heads to muffle the effects of the gas, hoping it wasn't poisonous. A light feeling began to wash over him, and his arms began to tremble. This was some really strong stuff, he thought to himself.

He heard a rustle to his left, and saw Carla quickly pull a vial from her bag. She snapped the cork off the top, and in one swoop she downed the contents. Shaking her head slightly, she breathed a sigh of relief.

"That was a potion to combat the effects of any sleeping drug. I'll be fine if I breath," She hissed to Avi, then stood up. "Stay here, and don't do anything stupid. I'm going to use this cover to get Roman."

The girl rushed across the street, picking her way through the bodies of the unconscious policemen, searching for the redheaded teen. Where could he be? He couldn't have gotten out of the fog, could he?

Carla continued to search, noting that it was eerily silent around her. Where were the enemies? How much time did she have until she didn't have a cover? The answers to those questions, she didn't know.

Hearing a quiet groan to her left, Carla picked up the pace until she found her friend, halfway hidden in a store alcove. He must have tried to crawl there, hoping to protect himself. She crouched down next to him, her hand flying down to his wrist to feel his pulse, and breathed a sigh of relief when she noted it was strong.

"Roman. Get up. We have to move, and I don't think I can carry you," She hissed, struggling to get him to sit up.

"What...what's going on? Why am I so dizzy?" He slurred, eyelids fluttering open. The world was spinning to Roman, and he was so disoriented that he didn't have the slightest clue what was going on.

"Sleeping gas. _Strong_ sleeping gas," Carla grunted, trying to support him enough so he could stand. " Now come on, we have to move-"

The click of a gun announced the arrival of someone else, and Carla felt a cold piece of metal touch the back of her head. She turned slightly to see the barrel of a machine gun pointed directly at her forehead, and the druidess struggled not to completely freak out.

She glanced upwards a little more, and stared directly into the face of a rebel.

"Look what we have here. Aren't you the little kids that got Elle arrested in the first place?" They drawled, a slow smirk creeping onto their face underneath the gas mask.

Carla held a steady, and even gaze with the rebel, not backing down. "Yup. That was us," She snorted, then quickly summoned plants to sprout up from the ground and wrap the rebel up. They did so, snaking out of the ground, and bringing the rebel to their knees. She grabbed Roman, forcing the injured and drugged boy onto his feet. Several more roots appeared from underground, giving a bit of cover for the duo as a volley of bullets sprayed towards them.

Dashing down the street, Carla was seriously running out of breath. Roman was tall, heavy and drugged, and she was busy trying not to get her head shot off.

Avi sprinted out from behind the dumpster, holding his breath, heading over to help Carla carry Roman.

"My magic can't hold the bullets off for long," She shouted to the approaching Avi, gritting her teeth as she almost tripped.

It was at that moment that Carla sank to her knees with a scream, Roman tumbling to the ground, and she clutched her thigh. Dark red blood began to seep through her pants, coating her thigh and hand.

" _Damn it!_ " She gasped, tears pricking her eyes. "Avi! I'm hit!" She croaked softly, not knowing whether he could hear her or not. She knew they were done for. She and Roman would probably die here, at the hands of the Light of Justice. Though a plan began to brew in her head, and Carla whipped out her potions pouch and began to rummage around for something. She pulled out a dark, green liquid, one to numb the pain in her leg. As she down the contents, she glanced back to see several rebels running forward. The numbing potion immediately began to take effect, the warmth the liquid provided stretched all the way through her body, from her head to her toes.

Avi, who was now a few feet away from his friends, stopped to duck under another bullet, the projectile just barely whizzing by his head.

"Stand back, kid. You'll get worse than what they're getting," One of the men chuckled, reloading the firearms.

"I-i can't let you just hurt my friends," Avi stated evenly, his hands trembling. He knew it was suicide to try and fight them, but what else could he possibly do? Sit back and watch them get killed? Never.

"If y-you want to hurt them, you'll have to go through me first," Avi said shakily. How could he do this? He couldn't fight, and had no battle experience whatsoever. He could swing a wrench wildly at them? Yeah. Then Carla might be able to run, and survive this.

The boy pulled a wrench out the pocket of his mechanic's suit, and rushed at the nearest rebel. It took a single punch to knock him to the ground. The others chuckled and howled at him, finding Avi's lack of fighting knowledge funny.

Carla stared in horror, then began trying to rummage through her pouch for another potion to help them.

One of the men saw this as well, unimpressed with her desperate attempts at saving Avi, and slammed their boot into the back of her head. She yelled once, then crumpled onto the concrete.

Avi stared in horror as the rebel grinned viciously at him, then raised the gun at him. He barely had time to close his eyes.

 **Metropolis**

 **October 27th, 07:00 P.M. EST**

 **2021**

Raven shuffled down the streets of Metropolis, his feet dragging as he tried to settle the mental war going on inside him right now. He had been walking around the city for hours, trying to come to terms with what he just did. Betraying Luthor and his team at the same time. Working with the enemy. Could he even call himself a hero at this point? No. He was disgracing all that he had worked for in this was letting Gezie, Phoebe, and the rest of the school down by doing this. And for what? His own personal belief? Bullshit, he thought to himself. This whole problem was a load of _bullshit._

A low groan pulled him out of his thoughts, vaguely reminding Raven of a zombie. Were the undead now in Metropolpolis?

"Stay focused, Raven. No time for jokes," He chided himself, shaking his head. Looking around the street, he noticed a very dark trail of crimson liquid. Blood. Following it into an alleyway quickly, Raven was shocked and horrified when he saw who it led to: Avi Redhawk.

"Avi?!" He practically screamed, tears now pooling at his eyes. No. His friend couldn't be dead. Raven refused to believe it. He refused to even accept it.

The boy sprinted over to mechanic, then knelt down next to him, grabbing his tanned wrist and feeling for a pulse. He could feel a faint beat and he breathed a sigh of relief. Avi was alive.

The teen groaned, rolling over to the side, and Raven could see a bullet hole in his stomach. Someone had shot him.

Avi coughed and sputtered, flecks of blood spilling onto his lips.

"The rebellion…"

"The rebellion, what?" Raven gritted his teeth, desperate to hear the answer to his question.

"The Light of Justice has Roman and Carla. They're hostages."

 **A/N: Well. That just happened. Surprise! Raven betrayed everyone, Carla and Avi were shot, The betateamers almost got caught, and now the rebellion took hostages! Woohoo, fun times!**

 **We're very pleased that the Beta team got a lot of screen time this chapter as, normally, they don't. We also realized we having quite a few OCs in this story, and not all of them even showed up this chapter! So, with the addition of even** _ **more**_ **characters coming, as in Young Justice team, you may not see our main 8 characters come in as often as last season. You'll see a lot more side characters though, so yay!**

 **The next two chapters will be shorter chapters, so they should be out quicker as well. If… we can balance between school, extracurriculars, and this story. It's harder than you'd think.**

 **So, regarding villains, we have a lot more than we originally expected. And that means tough decisions for us, so we'll PM you if yours made it in.**

 **Thanks, we hope you enjoyed this episode!**

 _ **~The Fangirls**_

 **~Questions~**

 **1\. What side characters would you like to see more of?**

 **2\. Any predictions for next chapter or the rest of the season?**

 **3\. Anything in this story you'd like to learn more about?**


	14. S2, Episode 4: Escalations

**How Far We've Fallen**

 **.x.x.x.x.x.**

 **Season 2, Episode 4**

 _~The YoungJusticeFangirls~_

 **The Academy, Alpha Dorms**

 **October 27th, 07:00 P.M. EST**

 **2021**

Raven teleported into the Alpha Dorms, his face paler than usual from the strain of using his powers. He had covered a lot of distance in only a little time, so he was currently dealing with the drawbacks.

Raven gingerly shuffled over to the couch in the living room then set his other passenger, Avi, down.

"Travis!" He croaked out, panting a little, "Travis! We need you now!"

"What is it?" The blind teen questioned, scurrying into the living room. He could feel Raven's exhaustion, and worry for Avi.

"It-it's Avi! He's been shot," the silver eyed teen informed, a hint of desperation in his voice as he asked, "Can you heal him? It's...bad, but he's still alive."

Travis nodded, pursing his lips as he put his hands over the bullet wound. Avi groaned as the wound started to heal, sweat pouring down his temple. His lips quivered ever so slightly, and he relaxed under Travis' powers.

"H-He'll be out for awhile. His body needs to heal," Travis sighed in relief, checking Avi over a few times. Turning to the exhausted Raven, he asked gently, "How did this happen? Who shot him?"

Raven shifted uncomfortably, sitting down. He felt the exhaustion through every inch and bone from his body as he slumped against the love seat. "I was… taking a walk through the city, and I found him. Before he passed out, Avi told me that the Light of the Justice attacked him and took Carla and Roman hostage."

"Hostage?" Travis' head snapped up, and he bit his lip. "We need to find them and call the others. We don't have time to waste, at all."

"I know. But Avi's out of commission, we're missing two of the team, and Ana might not be able to track them. The Beta Team's practically falling apart. You heard what's been going on," Raven added, pulling out his phone. As he spoke, he sent Gezie a quick text, saying there was an emergency with Avi. She replied immediately, and he knew she was already on her way. When it came to the safety of her friends, the leader spared no time.

"I-I know. Rashid is onto us. I don't know how long we keep hiding things… we may get caught," He sighed, rubbing his temple.

"Getting caught is the last thing we need right now," Raven agreed, his face contorting in frustration. "This is getting complicated. How long do you think our team can keep this up? All the secrets and lies. All the sneaking around."

"I-I don't know… we're always going to be at risk. We just have to tread lightly," Travis murmured. He had flinched ever so slightly when Raven talked about secrets and lies, and the other boy had caught it.

Raven's silver eyes narrowed in suspicion. What was up with him? "You good, Trav? You seem pretty worried."

"Well, y-yeah. I don't want to get caught. We could get suspended or expelled! D-Do you see this?" Travis gestured to Avi's unconscious form. "This is what happens when people are kept in the dark. I-I don't think we should keep this from everyone. Maybe we should tell Genevieve."

"She works for Rashid!" Raven protested.

"I-I...don't think so. At least, she's not loyal. Remember how the girls fought Elle? She never told him about that…" Travis whispered.

It was at that moment that the door to their dorm slammed open, Gezie and Julia jogged in. Gezie was slightly out of breath, but curiously, Julia was not. She looked perfectly comfortable and fine. Raven silently wondered what type of training she went through to make her so conditioned and fit. He pursed his lips, wondering exactly where that training came from. It was becoming increasingly apparent that he knew absolutely nothing of where she came from, and that she was pretty secretive about it.

"He got shot?!" Gezie yelled, her voice shrill as she rushed over to Avi. Out of habit, she immediately checked his pulse, relaxing when she affirmed he was indeed stable. It was pretty clear she was pissed.

"How did this happen?" Julia demanded, her fists quivering in anger.

"L-Light of Justice," Travis mumbled, the name a simple explanation. He knew they didn't have time to run over the entire story. "According to Avi, they grabbed Carla and Roman too."

"Again with the kidnapping? Raven, you and I should better watch out. They're coming for us next," Julia chuckled dryly.

"Any leads on where they might be?" Gezie inquired, running a hand through her sandy blonde hair.

"N-No. We could get Ana to check the city cameras?" Travis suggested.

"Good idea. I'm already calling her," Julia nodded, whipping out her phone and dialing furiously. She stepped away from the group, putting the receiver to her ear.

"Raven, I know you're tired, but we need Jack here." Gezie told him. In this moment, she truly looked aged. Like all the previous events had caught up to her, and had sucked years away from her life. "I-I think we should get the school involved. We can't risk their lives like this."

"What about the weapons and everything else? You wanna tell the entire school we've been investigating them? How much of a target do you think will be on our back?" Julia shouted from across the room, putting her call with Ana on hold.

"I can't risk their lives. It's time to get the school involved," Gezie croaked, shaking her head. "Trust me, telling everyone what we've been doing isn't an easy thing. But it's necessary. We can't risk Carla and Roman. You saw what they did to Avi and Jack, now they've got them hostage."

The room was silent for a moment, a stillness coming between the inhabitants. For a second, it looked like Julia was about to flat out defy Gezie and go her own route. Raven flinched; this team was falling apart, and fast.

"Fine," Julia mumbled, crossing her arms in silent protest. Raven let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. She put the phone back to her ear and continued talking to Ana.

 **Unknown**

 **October 28th, 05:00 A.M. EST**

 **2021**

A pounding in Roman's head and soreness in his muscles alerted the boy that he was indeed alive. What a shocker. He would have thought he'd be dead by now, considering the last thing he remembered was fighting a hostile rebel group that really liked shooting machine guns at him. But curiously, he was not dead.

Groaning a bit, Roman rolled over onto his side, fluorescent lights blinding his vision. Why was it so bright? Maybe...maybe he _was_ dead.

That thought alone sent Roman shooting up, a movement he soon regretted. His ribs were hurting. Definitely bruised. He blinked a little, adjusting to how bright it was, and let a stream of curses loose. He had no damn clue where he was.

Roman gazed around a small, white room with no windows or natural light. He was laid on a clean cot, and there was a small iron door on the far side of the room. Running his hands across the white wall, he deduced that these were not normal walls. They were made of some strange material, foreign to him.

Roman perked up when he heard a quiet cough from the other side of the room, and spotted Carla O'Connell, laying on her own cot. He hadn't noticed her from the way she was curled up; she looked so small and fragile from here.

"Carla?" Roman breathed, his mouth dry from the lack of water. She didn't move or respond simply laying there. She was still unconscious. But unconscious was a good thing, it meant she wasn't dead.

"Well, good morning, sunshine." A voice called from the door. Roman ground his teeth together, and his head sank back against the uncomfortable pillow.

"Go away, Elle," He grumbled, shooting her a dark look. He wasn't in the mood to fight her right now. He felt sick, probably from the drugs in his system, and he was incredibly sore in his ribs. Elle could probably beat him due to his condition, and he didn't want to risk his or Carla's life.

"I have to admit, your friend was pretty smart. Using her potions to cancel out the effects of the gas? Pretty sneaky, we didn't even see it coming."

"I said, go away!" Roman snarled to her, flipping the hard pillow over his head in an attempt to block her out. He could faintly hear her footsteps crossing the room. She wrenched the pillow from his head, and slammed it into his stomach. Right into his bruised rib.

Roman was having a pretty bad day, as waking up in an enemy compound and being drugged really wasn't his idea of a good time. But dealing with Elle, one of his least favorite people? That made for a not so happy Roman.

The teen shot up, despite the pain in his ribs, and slammed a punch square in her jaw. Elle's head snapped backwards under the force, and she took a few steps back. Chuckling darkly, she wiped a bit of blood that had began to trickle from her nose.

She deserved that, Roman scoffed to himself.

Her eyes seemed to ignite with an electric blue flame, and a sadistic grin appeared on her face. She tackled Roman and slammed him against the wall. Hard.

His head snapped back, crashing against the wall, but it didn't even make a dent. A groan escaped from the injured boy's lips as she jammed her forearm into his throat.

"You're in the den of the lion, Polaris. I suggest you tread lightly," She snarled. Roman felt like he couldn't breath. His head was spinning, and she was cutting off his air. Finally, she pulled away, and he took in a sharp, yet painful breath.

"I hate you," He growled after a moment of catching his breath. It was the only thing he could think of to say to her.

"The feeling is pretty mutual. You're about to hate me even more," She replied calmly, grabbing Roman by his arm and beginning to drag him to the door. "Don't do anything stupid or I'll kill your friend."

"Where are we going?" He rasped, stumbling out of the room and into the hallway. The hallway looked exactly the same as the room did; no windows, strange white walls. Their footsteps echoed throughout the room as they walked. Elle didn't respond, instead, she kept leading him forward.

It wasn't really much of a walk. Elle slammed open the door to a room, identical to their cell, except a metal table and chairs rested in the center. She shoved him inside, and smirked. "Don't cause any trouble now. Remember, your teammates are counting on you." And the door closed with a bang.

Roman sighed tiredly; these bright lights weren't helping his dizziness in any way, shape, or form. He remembered when Travis was healing another team member from a head injury, he told them to stay in a dark, cool room. This room was cold as all hell, but was not dark. It was probably straining his eyes, he mused.

Roman was surprised how much medical knowledge he had picked up from Travis. Maybe it was from all the injuries he had picked up from his time at this school. Maybe it was because every time they hung out, Travis would spout off some piece of medical information.

He paused his thoughts for a moment, wondering about how much time he really did spend with Travis White. The pair spent time and had classes together almost everyday. Were they...close enough to be considered friends? Roman could have sworn the thought made him smile. Being a hotheaded, pugnacious teen, it wasn't often that he came across someone who genuinely liked spending a day with him. Maybe Travis was just that kind and patient enough to sit through all his bullshit. He was that kind of person. One of the purest souls to ever live.

It was at that moment, the door swung open, and a man casually stepped in. He looked old- no, matured. This man looked matured, Roman thought. He had considerable amount of muscle to him, and he towered over Roman. It was incredibly intimidating to the teen, and made his stomach flip a little.

The man's dark brown eyes seemed to bore into his own, and it made Roman uncomfortable. It was like the man was already thinking of three different ways to kill him.

"Can we get this over with?" Roman blurted out, taking a deep breath. He didn't know what was going to happen, but he hated waiting. Whatever was coming, there was no way around it. He would have to deal with whatever they wanted sooner or later. So it might as well have been sooner.

"Quick to the point. I like it," The man drawled, then pointed to the chair. "Sit if you want. Or don't. You don't need to be sitting to listen to me."

Roman waited a moment, watching the man sit down, then followed suit. "What's your name?" He wondered cautiously.

The man raised a brow, "You can call me Chip. Everyone else here calls me Hunter. You're Roman, right?" The teen nodded in response. "Good. I don't like dancing around the subject. So let's down to discussing what needs to be discussed."

 **The Academy, Alpha Dorms**

 **October 28th, 06:00 A.M. EST**

 **2021**

"Well? What's the verdict?" Gezie asked impatiently, tapping her fingers on the armrest of her chair. She, Julia, and Travis had made a trip to Ana's dorm to see if they could hack into any of the street cameras or police reports. It had been fifteen minutes of scrolling through Metropolis City Feed, and Ana hadn't said whether she found anything or not.

"I'm sorry, Gez. The cameras were wiped. There's nothing," Ana said softly, biting her lip.

"Nothing? Great. So, our friends were captured by a hostile rebel group, and we have absolutely no leads on where they're at," Julia chuckled dryly.

So this was it. They wouldn't be able to get to their friends anytime soon. What if they were hurt? What if they were already dead, and all this was for nothing? What then? Would they find the bodies? Or would the Light of Justice just burn them and call it a day?

Gezie's breathing began to pick up, and her bright blue eyes grew wide in fear. She couldn't figure out what was happening. Why was she shaking? Why did it seem like she couldn't get enough air in her lungs?

"Gez. You need to stay calm, we'll find them," Travis breathed, his eyes filled with concern and worry.

Gezie couldn't stop. She didn't understand what was going on. Where was the rationality? Why was this happening?

"What's wrong with her?" Ana asked, worry leaking into her voice. She tried to remain calm, but seeing her close friend this vulnerable was rather unsettling. After another moment, Ana came to the realization that something was seriously wrong, "There's something wrong. Really wrong."

"S-She's having a panic attack," Travis whispered. He couldn't recall his leader having any symptoms of anxiety before, so this must have been stress induced. "Gezie. I need you to breathe." He coaxed, looking her in the eyes.

Her body wouldn't stop shaking. At some point, tears began to roll down her cheeks. What if she couldn't save them? What if they died?

"Gez. Y-You have to breathe. In and out," Travis tried to soothe her. "Come on. Try it with me. Deep breath in… and out."

Gezie tried to breathe. It felt like the room was getting smaller and air wouldn't go down her lungs. She tried to breath once. Twice. But the third time air finally hissed down her throat, and she felt a little better. The room didn't feel as small.

"Try again with me. In...and out."

Travis' voice was grounding her now. And the air was coming quicker. The tears didn't fall as soon. Her heartbeat slowed a bit. Everything was going to be okay, she tried to tell herself. The girl focused in on the medic's pale, unblinking lavender eyes.

"There we go. Are you better now?" Travis asked, rubbing her hand comfortingly.

"No," Gezie croaked, shaking her head slightly. "But I'm getting there." Her blue eyes flicked around the room, seeing the saddened and horrified faces who had just witnessed her mental breakdown. Her eyes landed on a new occupant- Genevieve.

The doctor noticed her gaze, and gave a gentle smile. "Raven got me. He wanted to see if I could help in any way."

"R-Roman and Carla-"

"Gez, I know. He told me. He told me everything that's been going on," She said softly.

"Everything?" Julia scowled.

"Everything," Genevieve affirmed, with a slight frown. "And I'm disappointed from how much you've been sneaking around and hiding from everyone. Using the girls night to track down an assassin? We could have been killed!"

"Yeah? So? You're working for the man who's making illegal weapons! And he selling them to a dictator over in Biayla!" She shot back, balling her fists.

Genevieve saw Gezie's panicked expression, and sighed. "That...doesn't matter right ow. We will deal with it later. Right now, we have to find and save the other two."

"And how do you suppose we do that?" Julia challenged, rolling her obsidian eyes.

"I...have an idea of where they might be held," She whispered, her emerald eyes going to the floor.

"No freaking way," Julia froze in disbelief. Was their teacher saying what she thought she was saying? Everything made so much sense now.

Genevieve shifted uncomfortably, her voice barely audible. "I'm afraid so. I know where the Light of Justice's compound is because _I_ was once a part of that group. I was a scientist, in fact." She paused for a moment, then the young woman's eyes shown with determination. "And with my knowledge, we are going to get your friends back."

 **Unknown**

 **October 28th, 05:30 A.M. EST**

 **2021**

"Let's get down to discussing what needs to be discussed. Luthor and the Academy." Chip sighed, crossing his muscular arms.

"It always comes back to Luthor, doesn't it? Why?" Roman asked. He was genuinely curious if this was all over the illegal weapons, or something more. He realized that was probably a stupid question. It was always something more.

"Because he's the reason this group was formed. When the Justice League wouldn't stop Luthor's oppression, we decided to take matters into our own hands," Chip replied casually.

"So you're a bunch of civilians pretending to be superheroes?"

"Whatever happened to getting straight to the point?"

"I'm just trying to understand where you guys are coming from. But by all means, go right ahead," Roman rolled his eyes.

"You work for Luthor. The entire Academy works for Luthor."

"Lucky us," Roman muttered sarcastically.

"We want you to assassinate him," Chip said bluntly, his eyes boring into Roman's soul. The teen froze, trying to collect his thoughts. Him? Assassinate Luthor? Were they crazy?! Actually, that was a pretty stupid and obvious question.

"That's...you've got to be joking," The boy laughed nervously, an anxious smile breaking across its face. Upon closer observation of Chip's expression, Roman found the man as not kidding. Not one bit. "Y-You want me to assassinate the President of the United States? Do you know how crazy you sound?!" He demanded, his voice rising in fear and anger. He couldn't do that. No way, no how. He was just a kid. Just a kid caught up in this whole mess. What he wouldn't give to be back with his team right now, safe and sound.

"Yes. And you have two weeks to do so," Chip raised a brow, challenging Roman to refuse. Well, challenge accepted.

"I never agreed to this! I never agreed to any of this! I'm not killing him!" He argued viciously.

Chip was unfazed. "See, we prepared for this. This is why we captured both you and Miss O'Connell."

"No." He breathed, his face going pale.

His prisoner continued, "While you and your teammate were unconscious, we gave you both a special strain of toxin. It was developed by one of our past researchers. It is utterly unique to the rest of the world, and the public has no knowledge of the toxin or the cure. Fail or reject our demands, and we won't give you the cure. Succeed, and you both will live."

"B-But I'm just a kid! Luthor's got some of the best security in the world! Why don't you choose an actual assassin?!" Roman yelled.

"Exactly. You just proved my point. Luthor has some of the best security in the world. But he trusts you and the Alpha team. You're one of his top students, correct? Due to your proficiency in battle. With that trust, it will be easy for you to get near Luthor and finish the job. We've looked into some of Rashid and Luthor's messages, and apparently the President is visiting the school next Friday for a meeting. It is in your best interest that you get the job done then, or you can suffer the consequences," Chip finished, lacing is hands together on the table.

Roman was speechless. He couldn't do this. He just couldn't. He'd be betraying the team, the country. Everyone. But did he really have a choice? He wanted to survive, he really did. But Carla's life was on the line. Should he reject the offer and let the both of them die? Or should he save himself and Carla by killing a man?

It was just one man. One shady man who was making illegal weapons, Roman tried to convince himself. But he just couldn't say yes. The words wouldn't leave his lips, his body wouldn't allow it.

"I think you need a bit of time to think this over, kid. If you say yes, then our group will provide everything you need to kill Luthor. Weapons, our men, everything," Chip leaned forward, his dark eyes glinting with excitement. "You'll be hero, Roman. You'll end the tyranny in this country. But I suggest you choose soon. Although it's slow acting, that toxin takes two weeks to kill its victim. And I'm pretty sure you don't want it to kill your teammate, based off of a choice you made. That would be… tragic." He chuckled darkly, than got up. Walking towards the door, he saluted Roman, "Good luck, kid. Choose wisely."

 **AN:**

 **Ha! You guys thought last chapter was bad for our heroes? Hilarious. Things can always get worse in this story! But fear not, dear readers! Hope is on the horizon!**

 **...Or so you think.**

 **Anyways, today marked the entrance of our new villain, Chip! And do you know what that means? We're adding even more villains! I know some of you have been cheering for that, just be patient. We have a lot of story to set up still.**

 **So, this chapter, it turns out that our Alpha and Beta teams are falling apart. Gezie's crumbling under the massive stress of being leader, Julia wants to keep things under wraps from the school, Roman and Carla are prisoners of the LoJ, and Avi is still out of it from being shot! And on top of that, we still have a mole on the loose!**

 **Oh my.**

 **And on top of that, Genevieve was a past member of the LoJ. Did she lie? Is she still a part of the LoJ? Or is she lying, and really just works for Luthor?**

 **Just some questions to consider.**

 **Anyways, until next time, kids! Thanks for reading, we hope you enjoyed!**

 **~The Fangirls**

 **~Questions~**

 **What do you think of the storyline so far? Anything you like or dislike?**

 **Who would be your OC's valentine?**


	15. S2, Episode 5: Explosions

**.**

 **How Far We've Fallen**

 **.x.x.x.x.x.**

 **Season 2, Episode 5**

 _~The YoungJusticeFangirls~_

 **Unknown**

 **October 28th, 06:00 A.M. EST**

 **2021**

Roman didn't know how much time had passed. He didn't know how long he'd been sitting there, whether it was minutes, hours, or days. He didn't know where Elle or Chip was, or when they were coming back. But he did know one thing. He was pissed as fucking hell.

It had taken a few minutes for Roman's rage to build up. After all, it's not every day you're forced to assassinate the president of your country. But as soon as the shock wore off, the teen felt something. A primal rage that built up in him. His legs and hands trembled as his blood boiled, the fury coursing through every vein of his body.

When Chip Canley entered the room again, this time with a cup of coffee, he was surprised to find a dark look on the teen's face. A murderous look.

"Made your choice?" He asked, raising a brow. He didn't think Roman would try to attack. It wasn't the smart thing to do, especially in this situation. But Chip Canley didn't know who he was dealing with. An irrational, angry teen.

"Oh yeah. I made a choice," He replied. It was surprisingly calm and nonchalant for the dark look he had.

"Good. I hope you were smart about it," Chip chuckled a bit, taking a sip of his coffee. It was at that moment that Roman lunged across the table, tackling the man mid air. Chip grunted as they hit the concrete floor, kicking his leg out and into his stomach. The teen went flying back into the metal wall. His eyes snapped open again, still blazing with that same fury, and slammed a right hook into his jaw. Chip didn't flinch, instead, he rammed his elbow into Roman's stomach, making him cry out in pain. Stumbling away, the boy spotted the metal chairs he once sat in, and dashed for it. He lifted it up, and slammed it straight into Chip's head, making him roar in anger.

The door to the room swung open, and Elle dashed in. She froze, watching Roman hit Chip over the head a few more times in utter shock and disbelief. Was he trying to get himself killed? The metal chair was dented and twisted, but surprisingly, Chip wasn't down yet. In fact, he seemed perfectly fine.

"Polaris?! What the hell are you doing?" Elle screamed, running over and wrenching the chair away from him.

"Fuck you! Fuck all of you! You think you're self righteous, huh?! I'll show you self righteous!"

It was at that moment, Elle whipped a taser out of her back pocket. As soon as it hit his skin, he felt heat and pain course through every inch of his body. Elle had turned the settings up high. His vision went blurry after a few seconds, and the last thing he saw was Elle pulling her fist back for a punch, and smirking at him.

 **Metropolis**

 **October 28th, 09:00 A.M. EST**

 **2021**

Soft classical music floated from the radio as the truck drove down the empty road. It was relaxing and calming for the driver, but it did absolutely nothing for Julia. She was too tense. Roman and Carla had been stuck with the Light of Justice, and who knew what horrors they were going through right now?

Would the rescue group make it on time?

And on top of that, the person leading their group recently revealed themself to have worked with the Light of Justice.

Julia's dark obsidian eyes bore into the back of Genevieve's head as she drove the truck, narrowing slightly when she began to hum along to the Bach. She didn't trust her one bit. After all when you worked in profession Julia did, you couldn't be trusting. Gezie didn't seem too trusting of their teacher either. Every once in awhile her big blue eyes flicked over to watch the medic, and then they went over to the GPS to check where they were at.

"So, Genevieve," Julia began, aiming to casually question her. "How close we to the base?"

"We'll be in the vicinity within an hour, " She replied, her emerald eyes never leaving the road.

"Huh. How'd you even get mixed up with the Light of Justice in the first place?" The girl asked nonchalantly, watching her carefully. Gezie looked over from her seat, sending Julia a warning glare.

Genevieve shifted a bit in her seat, her eyes flicking down to stare at the wheel, "Well...to know how I ended up with that group, you're going to need a bit of context. You don't mind if I talk? Sometimes I've been known to ramble…"

"It's okay. I ramble too. Julia knows that," Gezie laughed a little.

Genevieve took a deep breath, and began, "I grew up in France. I had a rather simple life. I was a gymnast for my school, on my mother's wishes. But according to my school, I was a rather intelligent child. I graduated high school when I was sixteen, and went straight on to pursue my passion: medicine. Later, during some unfortunate events, I discovered my gift. I decided to use my teleportation to go to hospitals around the world, treating patients. My travel time was almost nonexistent, and I could be anywhere to help anyone. That's...when I was recruited. Cadmus recruited me when I was twenty-two for some research. I didn't realize what the research was on. Enhancing human beings beyond their limit. "

She paused for a moment, and silence filled the air.

"That's when I met Elle. We were young, and she was tired of being held captive by them...It didn't take me long to find a way to break her out. They never found out I was the one who engineered the whole break out, and I went on to join the Light of Justice as a medic. When they got hurt, I'd always be there to heal them. They...became family in a way."

Julia's and Gezie's eyebrows shot up.

"But I have morales. As soon as Elle and the others started assassinating people… I had to get out. So I left. I just… ran. Afterwards, I applied at the Academy as a teacher. I was hoping I could try and find a way to bring the Light of Justice down there. And here I am," She finally finished. Silence filled their car, as everyone sat in shock.

"Wow," Jack finally said, unable to come up with anything else.

"Ditto," Raven mumbled. He felt a bit bad for Elle now, as being held captive by Cadmus seemed absolutely awful. He could see why she was the she was. Though, it slightly worried him that Jack grew up in the same environment. How come he wasn't a murderous villain like her if they came from the same place? That meant that they didn't have the same upbringing them, something else influenced Jack to the side of good. Raven was thankful for that influence, whatever it may be.

"So that's your story, huh?" Julia nodded. It wasn't as bad as she thought. Genevieve… actually had a pretty legitimate reason for joining the group. And the girl admired the fact that she left when they started to go against Genevieve's beliefs. The medic was strong willed. The teen still couldn't forgive the fact that she lied, but then again, who wasn't a liar at the Academy? Julia knew she would be a hypocrite if she blamed her for lying.

"Yeah. That's my story. I don't regret joining them. That group had good ideals, and was trying to do the right thing. They just…" Her knuckles tightened around the steering wheel as she trailed off with a sigh. "It's complicated."

"U-Uh, is your GPS supposed to be blinking like that?" Travis asked softly from the back, pointing at the machine on the dash. Genevieve and the others had invested so much of their attention into the story that she completely forgot she was driving somewhere.

"Oh. We're here!" The driver chirped, trying to change the subject. She turned the truck off the road and into a clearing of trees. "Alright. Everybody out. We've got a bit of a hike."

"Why can't we just drive there?" Raven asked curiously, opening the door to his side and hopping out. Genevieve loaded up a handgun, and checked her gear.

"Do you want the entire base to see us coming?" Jack asked, raising a brow.

"Good point," Raven conceded. Silence followed after his words, and Genevieve motioned for the others to follow, turning to move through the trees.

 **Unknown**

 **October 28th, 09:30 A.M. EST**

 **2021**

Roman sighed, staring at the ceiling of his cell. He had been sulking for the past half hour, seething over how short his little brawl with Chip was. Stupid Elle. He wanted to punch her face in just for tasing him. Roman hadn't been sulking the whole time, before his thoughts put him in a bad mood he had been trying to be productive and plan an escape. But he was lacking information in the layout of his prison, and didn't know how many rebellion agents were here. Could he and Carla possibly fight them all off? Even with her being injured? He didn't know.

"Where are we?"

Carla's hoarse voice cut through his thoughts, and he turned to her. Roman had almost forgotten that she had woken up. Studying her appearance, he observed that she looked absolutely awful. Her black hair was frizzy and caked in grime, along with her clothes, and a large purple bruise was blossoming on her face. Roman figured he didn't look any better, if not worse.

"Hell if I know. Some rebel base. With Elle and another guy named Chip," Roman grumbled sitting up with a wince.

"Elle's here? Joy." Carla rolled her eyes. "This will be such a pleasant stay."

"I don't want to ruin your "stay" even more, but we're in some serious trouble. So try not to do anything to get us killed," Roman sighed, debating on whether or not to tell her about their dire situation. Either he murdered Luthor or they both died. How could someone even make that decision?

"If anyone would get us killed, it's you. What's on your mind?" She asked, arching a brow. Roman was never silent unless his life depended on it, she had known him long enough to pick up on that. Something was seriously wrong. Was Elle coming to kill them soon? Was that it? "Are we going to be executed? "She whispered, voice cracking at the end.

"No." Roman assured her firmly, his face contorting into a frown.

"Then what? What the hell is going on? There's something wrong, because you never act like this. Even in bad situations," Carla snapped, running a hand through her black hair in frustration. "I can't help you if you don't tell me. And I doubt you can solve the damn problem on your own!"

"It. Doesn't. Matter. Anymore." Roman seethed. He groaned in frustration, regret bubbling up inside him. "Why did I go to this stupid school? I should have just stayed in

California, living my life with my mom!"

"Yeah. Why did you come here? You knew there'd be teams, you knew you'd have to rely on others. Why are so stubborn?!" Carla huffed.

"I'm not stubborn, I'm driven! There's a difference!"

"Driven to what? Get us killed?" She deadpanned, gritting her teeth. "You know what? I want to know. Why are you so stubborn and idiotic? Do you have a tragic backstory or something? I want an explanation."

"No, I don't really have a tragic backstory. I grew up in California with my parents, nothing special," Roman huffed.

"Then how did you get to being a little shit?" Carla shot back.

"I'm...not exactly sure. I think it was my powers that made me like this. I was a pretty nice kid, pretty normal, then I took a full face of nitroglycerin and I was never the same. It was like...I was an entirely new person after I got my powers," Roman mumbled, lost in his memories. After a moment of silence, his red eyes shot back to the girl across from him. "So? Was that the answer you were looking for? I don't really have a tragic backstory. My dad died in the same accident that made me like this, but I'm pretty sure that's it."

"Do you miss him?" Carla replied quietly, playing with the sleeve of her shirt. She wasn't expecting that for a backstory. Roman had to be a tough person to survive a face full of chemicals. Now is powers made so much sense to her. His body adjusted to the chemicals, and his sweat contained nitroglycerin. Interesting, she thought to herself.

"How about you? Why are you so indifferent? Why do you like creepy stuff? Where the hell did you learn to make potions? I'm pretty sure the normal high school doesn't have a potions class." Roman wrinkled his nose. He was genuinely curious about her upbringing, and wondered who taught her magic. It had to be someone close to her.

"What is this? Twenty questions?" Carla rumbled, but eventually relented, deciding to answer his questions. She didn't have anything better to do, really. "Well...as for why I'm indifferent, there's simply nothing to get worked up over. Staying calm is the best strategy a person could have," She shrugged. "I like things that others find creepy because they're cool. Snakes and rats? They're great. I also really liked the horror genre when I was younger, so I guess I get my love for creepy stuff from that. As for the potions stuff, my mom taught me a bit of chemistry when I was little, but my uncle, who is a druid like me, taught me spell casting and potions. He was my mentor, and the one who convinced me to go to the Academy so I could learn to be a hero. We're... really close. "

"I'd think so. I've never had a mentor. I just learned on my own, with flying and using my powers. My mom convinced me to go to the school for better training," Roman shrugged plainly. Silence followed after the pair, as they thought about their conversation. Roman was trying to work up the strength to tell her about what the Light of Justice was making him do. He knew she would probably disapprove. But he also didn't want to keep any secrets from his team and further damage their bond. And plus, he needed Carla. He needed her support. If he was going to kill Luthor, he couldn't possibly do this alone, and he bet the rebels knew that too. They were probably counting on him tearing his team apart with this information, Roman realized. Either way, assassinating Luthor would drive a wedge through their team, and it would make it easier for the Light of Justice to destroy them.

"Roman," Her soft voice called from the other side of their cell. "Exactly what danger are we in?"

Roman paused. The question still remained. Should he tell her? Or not?

He already knew the answer, though. He wouldn't survive this alone.

With a resigned sigh, Roman met her gaze, and tried to figure out a way to explain this to her.

 **Unknown**

 **October 28th, 10:30 A.M. EST**

 **2021**

"This is it?" Jack asked quietly, staring at the sight before him. Genevieve had led them through the woods to what looked like an abandoned drive in movie theatre. Trash littered the abandoned lot, the panels of the movie screen were dirty and peeling, and the lot was overgrown with weeds and bushes. Definitely abandoned, Jack thought. But his blue eyes caught sight of some fresh tire tracks, that of a truck. Maybe not as abandoned as he thought.

"This is it," Genevieve nodded, leading them across the lot. Her black combat boots crunched on broken pieces of glass. The teacher had dressed for the occasion, wearing a loose black jumpsuit, made out of some thin and breathable material. Genevieve told them she had specifically designed it to withstand her teleportation, and it would give her better mobility too during battle.

She picked up the pace as they reached the abandoned concession stand, and walked behind the structure, revealing an entrance for trucks. It had a downwards ramp for any entering vehicles, and a metal garage door. The entire entrance was partly concealed by bushes.

"This is the back entrance. They have guards, But only inside the hanger so the door remains hidden. We're going to have to fight our way in. There's cameras on the outside, of the door, and on the other side of the concession stand. We're standing in a blind spot right now," The woman breathed, her emerald green eyes studying their entry point.

"That door looks heavy. How are we getting in?" Raven breathed.

"It's not a problem," Julia smirked, picking up a heavy rock. "How big of an entrance do we want?"

"It's heavy steel. I was here when this door was being installed," She said.

"Y-You're going to need a bigger rock." Travis mumbled.

"Actually. I have a better plan. Mind if I break cover?" Julia whispered, grinning a bit. Genevieve hesitantly nodded, and the girl began to sprint. Her long legs flew across the dirt, eventually hitting the concrete ramp, barreling straight for the door. Arms outstretched, she put her hands on the metal door for a split second and She heard the whir of a turret. Julia knew the security had spotted her. Sprinting away, the teen began Evasive maneuvers to avoid the fire, and motioned for the others to move.

"Move!" She yelled. As the group sprinted away from the door, Julia's fingers twitched ever so slightly, and she closed her obsidian eyes. The door erupted in flames and metal shrapnel went flying everywhere, and it left a gaping hole where the door used to be. The group stared at where the door used to be in awe.

"We have to move. Now. Julia, that was very effective," Genevieve said, beginning to sprint down towards the entrance. "Follow my lead. And whatever you do, don't leave my side. It's very easy to get lost in this compound!"

As soon as they entered, the first thing Jack noticed was bodies. Bodies lay near the entrance, though he couldn't tell whether they were alive or not. They were in close proximity to where the explosion was, so he figured they were dead. Less enemies for him to take care of, the boy reasoned with a shrug.

The second thing Jack noticed was the people firing heavy guns at them. Gezie whipped out a shield with her ink, blocking most of them from hitting. He observed there were about eight enemies guarding the main hanger. The team could get past these fairly quickly, then make their way down the hall.

"Travis, stay back. We don't need you getting shot. Gez, cover him and anyone else who's under heavy fire. I think we can all handle dodging a few bullets," Genevieve commanded.

"I'll take the one on the right. Jack, you want those two?" Julia gestured, cracking her knuckles a bit.

"Piece of cake," Jack scoffed, then took off for the left side. His long legs flew across the concrete floor of the hanger, and he launched himself at the enemies. He tucked himself into a roll, then popped back up onto his feet and slammed an upper cut into the first shooter's jaw. The rebel shot backwards, his body landing onto the floor with a groan. It didn't take Jack long to knock the next man out either. Jack twisted the assault rifle the man was holding out of his grip and slammed a kick to his gut, making the guy crumple to his knees with a yell. One smooth hit with the gun to his temple, and he was out for the count. Jack's whole battle had taken less than twenty seconds.

Julia, on the other side, had swept her leg out and knocked her opponent onto his back, then slammed the heel of her boot into his head a few times. She glanced around, seeing the same scene play out for Raven and Genevieve. It only took a few seconds to disarm and knock out their eight gunmen.

"Ready to keep moving?" The teacher asked calmly, not even breaking a sweat from taking three men on at the same time. She didn't really wait for an answer from the teens, instead choosing to start jogging down a hallway.

Travis didn't involve himself in the fights, instead warily watching his teammates battle the rebels. He had to admit, he was pretty impressed with the level of expertise his friends had in fighting. They had really improved since he had met them during the initiation. Harvard was really an amazing combat teacher. He hurried after Genevieve, and the others quickly moved to put him at the center at the group, so they could protect him from any fire.

Gezie and Genevieve stayed at the front; the teacher leading the group and the ink manipulator ready at any moment to put up a shield. The team made their way through he compound, taking out rebels, going deeper and deeper into the building. Eventually, Travis had no clue where they were at or how long they'd been running, and it seemed only Genevieve had a clue where they were at. She rarely talked or gave directions but occasionally she'd stop to figure out which way to turn. Travis could feel conflicting emotions inside of her, and he figured being back here gave the teacher a flood of old memories.

As Travis was hurrying through the halls, paying attention to the emotions in the area, he froze for a moment with a perplexing look on his face. There was a familiar feeling in the area, a very familiar anger. He knew this person's feelings well. Then, the empath picked up another set of emotions he was used to.

Roman and Carla. His teammates.

Travis pushed his way through the group, and sprinted down one of the halls, ignoring the confused shouts behind him. They were close. He could feel them with his powers, a swirl of angry and scared, all pent up in one room. They were afraid. He had to help them.

"Travis!"

The teen skidded to a stop, mid run, when he saw Raven teleport right in front of him. "Where are you going?!" He demanded to the empath.

"Carla and Roman. Down the hall. I can feel them," Travis blurted, pointing to another hall.

"With your empathy?" Raven asked, arching a brow. He didn't want to get lost here, as all the halls and rooms looked the same. This compound was like a labyrinth. He figured it was so intruders would have a harder time trying to get out. Smart design. He wondered if Genevieve was the one to think up the idea.

"Yeah. Come on. We have to go. They have fear," Travis emphasized. Fear was an uncommon emotion for the pair. Carla was scarily calm in any situation, and Roman was usually angry, not afraid. Whatever they were fearing, it must have been bad.

Genevieve could hear them down the hall, and grinned at Travis. "You found them? Great! That saves us way more time. We can grab them, and get out of here!" The teacher chuckled.

"I'm so damn glad we have you here, Travis," Gezie sighed in relief. As soon as they got to her friends, it would feel like a million tons of weight would be lifted from her shoulders. And Travis was the golden key that was going to lead the group to them.

"Well, would you look at that. I was right. It is the rest of the Alpha team," A voice said flatly from behind Gezie. Her stomach dropped, and she let out a frustrated groan. She knew it couldn't have been that easy. They weren't going to just break in and grab the others. They'd have to fight for it.

"Hey, Elle," Gezie deadpanned, turning around to face the assassin. However, she was very surprised to see a man standing by her side. He looked young, intimidating, and pretty ripped. Jack could probably take him on, the leader mused to herself.

"Well he's new. Got yourself a boyfriend?" Julia taunted from the back of the group.

Elle gritted her teeth slightly, "I fucking hate teenagers. You're dying first."

"Sweet burn, Julia," Raven snickered to his teammate, an impish grin on his face. He knew supporting her would tick Elle off, and his hunch was right. The assassin was ready to roll, and so was the Alpha team.

"Speaking of burn, how are you, Jack?" Elle asked casually, the corners of her lips turning up ever so slightly. With that simple sentence, Travis could feel the hatred the group held for Elle multiply. Everyone was still pissed about her torturing Jack.

"Gezie, Raven, how about you two take Travis to the hostages. Jack and Julia are our heavy hitters, so they can take on this guy," Genevieve gestured to Chip. "I'll handle Elle."

Gezie interjected, "I can help fight too-"

"No. We need your ink shields to protect Travis. Raven will need help as well," The teacher shook her head, slipping into a defensive stance. "Go on ahead."

The teen froze, her blue eyes flicking from person to person, unsure of what she should do. Ultimately, Gezie's level headed side won out, and the girl took off down the hall with Raven and Travis, heading for their friends.

"How do you want to handle this?" Jack breasted to Julia, studying Chip. The older man didn't seem worried by the pair. He simply shrugged off a hoodie and threw it off to the side. Judging from how muscular he was, his strength could pose a serious problem.

"I don't know. You think he has powers?" She replied, tightening the ponytail that held up her brown hair.

"Probably. We don't have much time to worry about it though," Jack grumbled, narrowing his eyes as Chip and Elle exchanged a glance. Chip smirked ever so slightly at the group, making the heroes uneasy, and casually began to advance on them. The teens exchanged a knowing and tired glance, then ran to meet him.

 **AN:**

 **Woohoo! We updated faster than last time. Thank god for that. Regarding updates, it's going to be super tough to update regularly, and we've given up on that. Updates happen when they happen now, as the load of our school work has increased, and that takes precedence over this story. This chapter was supposed to be a solid 10,000 words long, but we had to split it to update quicker. The past few chapters have been rather short because of school and updates and such. But good news! About 3 more months of school left, then summer! And then updates will come once a week like they used to during the good old days.**

 **Regarding this chapter, we decided to delve into some backgrounds, mainly Genevieve, Roman, and Carla. Our two Alpha team members have revealed some of their past and power histories over a heartwarming talk. Our rescue group has split up, with Travis leading the charge to find the captives, and Genevieve leading the charge to defeat Elle and Chip.**

 **We decided to give you a break from answering questions today, so enjoy! We hope you liked this chapter, and feedback is always appreciated. If there's any scenes you want to see happen or any changes to be made, just tell us!**

 **See you next update!**

 **~The Fangirls**


	16. S2, Episode 6: Tiebreakers

**.**

 **How Far We've Fallen**

 **.x.x.x.x.x.**

 **Season 2, Episode 6**

 _~The YoungJusticeFangirls~_

 **Unknown**

 **October 28th, 10:00 A.M. EST**

 **2021**

As Julia ran towards Chip, she couldn't help but feel that this was a little bit of a bad idea. They were charging in against an older enemy, with no information on him whatsoever. What if he was an alien or something? Or a Cadmus augmented individual like Elle and Jack?

Sure, she had her powers and her hand to hand combat, but what if that wasn't enough?

The sudden swing of a punch towards her face yanked her out of her thoughts, and Julia barely avoided getting decked. The girl ducked under Chip's second swing, his fist bushing against her chocolate brown hair. She grabbed his fist on the next punch, then used his momentum to throw him into a judo flip.

Chip surprised her, twisting out of her grasp and landing solidly onto his feet. Jack had been waiting for a chance to jump in, and now sent a flurry of punches towards the man, knocking him back into the wall.

The pair skidded to a halt as they watched him jump right back to his feet. He didn't exactly seem injured by their assault, and that worried the teens. Exchanging a look, the duo knew they'd have to pack more of a punch and really amp up their attacks if they wanted to hurt him.

Chuckling darkly, Chip stretched his muscles as he grinned at Jack and Julia. "You kids are really something. Annoying, but something. I might even like you guys if you weren't working for an evil bastard," He shrugged casually.

"I agree. I might have actually liked you too if you didn't kidnap my friends, "Julia growled, her obsidian eyes narrowing. Logic told her he was stalling. But for what?

She wished she hadn't asked when she saw what Chip did next.

Grinning maliciously, the man's nose and face seemed to elongate, and his eyes seemed to get more narrow. He stretched his arms as his long nails became claws, and his whole form seemed to get bigger and bulkier. What the actual hell, she asked herself mentally.

"Let's end this," The man growled viciously, his voice deeper and more monstrous than it had been before. It unsettled Julia, very much. The teens exchanged another confused glance, horrified by the transformation. Who the hell were they going up against?

"Are you...a werewolf?" Jack asked, squinting his eyes as he studied the man.

"I prefer to use the term Lycan. But in theory, yes," Chip snarled, then began to run at them with inhuman speed. Probably because he wasn't human. Jack attempted to land a hit on the man, but Chip just threw him into the wall and kept trucking along towards Julia. The girl dodged several strikes, and followed it up with block, but Chip grabbed her wrist with his claws and twisted it. Julia screamed as his claws sank into her wrist, but slammed the heel of her boot into his chest, forcing him to release her. This was going to be a problem, the teen thought as she saw Chip getting ready to attack again.

 **Unknown**

 **October 28th, 10:30 A.M. EST**

 **2021**

Travis sprinted as fast as he could down the hall, Raven and Gezie right on his heels. He kept reaching out with his powers, allowing them to guide him through the building. As the sounds of battle got quieter and Roman's anger got more tangible to the empath, he knew they were getting closer.

"We've been running for a bit. How much farther?" Raven painted, a droplet of sweat trickling down his temple.

"Not too far now. I can feel Roman's anger getting stronger," Travis informed, focusing on the more violent teen's emotions. The closer they got, the more vibrant it began to feel. As soon as the feelings were at their peak, Travis quickly skidded to a halt.

"This is?" Gezie asked, glancing at the door they stopped in front of.

"Y-Yeah. They're in here," The empath nodded.

"How do we get in? We don't have Julia to blow up this door," Raven muttered, looking at the lock. "And I'm not sensing any shadows that I can teleport to. It's pretty bright in that cell."

"If we had Avi here, he could hack into this easily," Gezie grumbled, crossing her arms. A solution came to her as she remembered she had repeatedly seen Travis work with the absent mechanic. Snapping her fingers, she turned to Travis, a small spark of hope in her voice as she asked, "Travis, you've been working with Avi right? Plus, you're pretty good with tech aren't you? Think you could get this door open?"

Biting his lip, Travis nodded with a small, determined smile as he responded, "I can definitely try my best. I'm not as good with this kind of thing as Avi, but I'll do what I can."

The rest of the team watched Travis go in front of the keypad, starting to test his mechanical magic. As he worked on lock, Gezie and Raven started to discuss what to do next.

"Okay, so as soon as we get Roman and Carla out, we need to go help Jack, Julia, and Ms. LaRoux fight," Gezie sighed, crossing her arms.

Raven grunted in agreement, "Yeah, good idea but how are we going to find where they are?"

Gesturing to the blind teen, Gezie reminded, "We've got Travis, he'll be able to track them by their emotions," turning to the strawberry haired boy she asked, "Right?"

Travis affirmed her assumption with a nod, though continued to focus on getting the door open to get their friends and teammates out.

"Now, what about a plan?" Gezie hummed, mostly to herself as her lips gave way to a small frown.

One eyebrow arching up, Raven gave a small grin as he half-joked, "Do we really need a plan? So far we've been making outlines, not plans, how about we go with that?"

Gezie returned the smile, if only slightly strained, as she agreed, "Yeah, true. All we can do is hope that we aren't too late to join the fight."

"Got it," Travis then informed, stepping back from the door a bit as it opened. Of course, Roman had been expecting Elle or some soldiers, not his teammates. Unfortunately for Raven, he was right in front of the door, therefore right in front of where Roman aimed his fist. But thankfully having heard the only slightly taller redhead's shout, he dodged just in time, feeling the other's fist brush his hair.

"Calm down big guy," Raven chuckled, putting his hands up in a placating way and an easy grin. Roman frowned, though it held no heat, as he lowered his arm. A grunt, Raven supposed, was his form of apology as he nodded in acknowledgment.

Meanwhile the girls hugged each other tightly. Gezie sighed in relief as she hugged her friend, asking, "Are you alright? Any wounds or injuries?"

"I'm a little bruised up. Dirty. I got shot in the thigh and hit on the head, but other than that, ready to beat the Light of Justice to a pulp," She shrugged, stepping back from the warm hug.

"Everyone except Avi is here" the team leader informed, breaking their hug as she told everyone, "I know we need to catch up and catch our breaths, but we need to do that later. Jack, Julia, and Ms. LaRoux need out help."

The others nodded in understanding, knowing that they would need to help with the fight.

"Alright, let's go kick some bad guy ass," Roman huffed, cracking his knuckles before asking, "How we gonna find them?"

Gezie nodded to Travis, the blind teen nodded back as he motioned for everyone to follow him.

It hadn't taken Travis long to help them weave through the halls, he followed Genevieve's furious and painful emotions like trail of string through a maze. He could practically feel how frustrating the fight was for her, and when the heroes finally stumbled upon their friends, he knew why. All the participants were bruised, battered, and bloodied, Julia even struggling to stay on her feet from what looked to be a hurt leg. A large gash stretched its way across her thigh, making the girl favor her right leg instead.

As soon as they spotted the teens, everyone paused their battle to see if it was really Roman and Carla.

"Roman?" Julia whispered as she spotted him, a grin breaking out across her face, illuminating her features. The pair's eyes met, making Roman smile as well, but it was at that moment when Chip slammed a punch into her gut and sent her tumbling across the hall.

"What is that?" Carla asked, horrified. Chip was now a beastly man, towering several feet above everyone in the hall, and was covered in hair. His lips pulled back into a snarl, revealing several razor sharp fangs. Roman hardly recognized his interrogator, but he knew it was him.

"Elle! They broke the kids out," Chip snarled, his voice deep and monstrous. Carla and Roman couldn't help but stare in shock and wonder at his horrific transformation.

"Doesn't matter! We can take them!" The woman screamed viciously, wiping blood from her eyes and raising her fist to block one of Genevieve's attacks. Elle countered with a concussive energy blast to her head, sending the teacher tumbling to the ground and skidding across the tarnished floor.

"Go help the other's with Chip. I want Elle." Roman gritted his teeth, finding himself moving towards his opponent before anyone else could protest his decision. He could faintly hear Carla cursing him out for the impulsive choice, but he didn't really give a fuck. Smashing Elle's face in was really all he wanted right now.

Igniting his body in flame, Roman hurtled towards her, slamming her into a metal door across the hall. He heard the satisfying sound of her head hitting it, with her exhausted and pain filled groan following it up. But what he wasn't expecting, was for the assassin to reach down and tug a metal latch, throwing the door open and sending the pair tumbling into the room.

"Shit!" Roman cursed as they fell into a pitch black room, and he found himself tumbling down a set of metal stairs and onto a metal surface. They hurt like a bitch, evident from the excessive set of expletives he let fly. He rolled his way to a complete stop on his back, and realized Elle hadn't rolled with him. She had flown away somewhere.

Scrambling to his feet, the teen's pale, red eyes scanned the pitch black darkness that engulfed him for any sign of his opponent. There was none.

He walked forward a bit, and hit his hip on what seemed to be a metal railing, having to bit his lip from crying out and cursing in pain. The boy glanced down, squinting into the shadows, and determined he was on the catwalks above… a theatre? What kind of terrorist compound had a theatre in it? Well, crazed rebels needed some form of entertainment, he supposed silently.

"You should have stayed out of the damned fight!" He heard a distinct female voice shout and turned around exactly the moment Elle shot out of the rafters of the theatre, knocking him off the catwalk.

His sweaty palms caught on the edge of the metal, and hollered as he felt a sharp stabbing pain in his shoulder.

"I swear I heard that shoulder of yours pop. That could be a problem…" Elle taunted from far above, watching him struggle to hang on. He hoped to god he hadn't dislocated it. That would mean the end of him in this fight.

"What? Nothing to say?" She yelled furiously, firing up another energy blast in her hand. The blue energy danced around her fingertips, reminding Roman of a fire. He ignored her taunts though, and ignited himself, dashing through the sky and slamming a kick into her gut. He swore he heard a splinter, and a slight grin slipped on his face.

"You should have ran when I gave you the chance!" Roman shouted back.

She hurtled through the sky, into the theatre curtains, getting tangled in the red, velvety fabric and crashing to the oak stage. Her energy blast had accidentally shot off from her fingers with the crash and it flashed through the pitch black room, slicing through the chains that held up the curtains, the sandbags, and metal catwalk.

Before Roman Polaris could comprehend what was about to happen, the catwalk and sandbags came crashing down on top of Elle.

His face twisted in horror and shock, as he zoomed downwards to try and stop it, but he was providing lackluster effort. He was going to be too late, he realized.

There was sickening scream of agony, a crack of a skull, and then a dead silence filled the air between Roman and Elle.

 **Unknown**

 **October 28th, 10:30 A.M. EST**

 **2021**

"Where's Roman?"

Gezie glanced back at Julia, hearing her panicked and frantic voice. The teen had just finished tying Chip up to buy some time. After Roman had gone rouge and disappeared with Elle, the Alpha team had focused their efforts on taking the Lycan down. It had proved to be a tough challenge, even for all of them.

"I don't know. Travis? We need you to use your empathy to locate him," The leader commanded, walking over to the unconscious Chip to make sure the ropes were tight enough.

"I-I can't do two things at once. I'm already trying to heal Genevieve," Travis stammered from where he crouched over the teacher. They had managed to wake her up, though she was dealing with some serious burns from the energy blasts.

"I should have worn heavier armor," She cussed softly, wincing as the teen bandaged her forearm a bit. Her black jumpsuit was burned and torn, the sleeves and thighs of the suit being almost shredded. Travis helped her as best he could.

The teen sighed, then took a step back. "There. This should help a little bit." He nodded. Switching gears, and reaching out with his empathy, he furrowed his brows unsurely. "I-I feel someone coming down the halls. It might be Roman, it might be soldier… but I'm fairly positive it's Roman."

"Let me handle it," Gezie sighed, pulling the ink of her arms with a flick of her wrist and shaping them into swords, just in case it wasn't her teammate.

Turning the corner and heading into the hall, she was surprised to see Roman jogging down towards her, a harsh and dead look in his eyes. He looked like he had just saw death itself. It haunted her.

Before she could ask anything else of him, the teen sprinted past her and towards the group. "Genevieve!" He called hoarsely then coughing a bit.

"Roman! Thank god you're okay. We have to leave. Now!" Julia called from where she she had been tending her own gashes and wounds. She scrambled to her feet, eager to escape while the Alpha Team still had their lives. Although she hadn't shown it, this battle had shaken her. Julia had seen and been in some tough fights, but this one truly made her nervous. They had almost lost everyone.

A panicked expression broke out across his features and his voice quavered,"No, Julia, you don't understand. Elle-"

"Uh, guys? Not t-to panic anyone, but I can sense another group of people heading towards us. And they don't feel friendly," Travis quickly stuttered, glancing around the group in apprehension. The teens grew silent, hping some magical solution would come to them and save them from their impending deaths at the hands of the enemy.

"There's no way in hell we can fight our way out," Raven added, feeling trepidation from their dilemma.

With help from Travis, Genevieve clambered to her feet laboriously, her tired emerald eyes sweeping to the group. "We'll teleport." The woman knew she was almost out of energy. She didn't know if she could muster the strength to get them all out of the compound, not without serious health ramifications. But she was sure as hell going to give a shot.

"Wait. Let me help. You can't teleport eight people and expect to survive," Raven interjected, his silver eyes pleading with his teacher to reconsider her choice. Genevieve begrudgingly relented, and motioned for the kids to grab on.

"Here." Travis breathed, taking her hand in his. A warm feeling spread from the healer's palm and into her's, stretching through her veins and lacing it's way through her core, making the woman shiver from the strange sensation. "This will give you the energy to get us out," He muttered, but she could see the exhaustion setting in his features already. He had given her his energy, and it left her astounded. Gezie and Carla also grabbed onto Genevieve, exchanging a glance with each other. Julia, Roman, and Jack held onto Raven.

And with a flash of light, the group was gone from the compound.

 **The Academy, Med Bay**

 **October 28th, 03:00 P.M. EST**

 **2021**

The heated whispering between Carla and Roman grasped Jack's attention away from his work, and he looked up from the files he had been pouring over for the past hour. After getting patched up in the Med Bay, Jack had whipped out his laptop to do some research on Chip Canly. To no one's surprise, Chip had a file in the Cadmus database.

But it was a matter of hacking into the database that was the problem, as Avi was still unconscious from his major amount of blood loss. Jack figured he'd have to use his official codes to get into the files, but then it would alert Luthor he was looking into Chip.

And the last thing he wanted to do was attract attention to what was going on behind the closed doors of the Alpha dorm.

"You have to tell them, or I will," Carla snarled quietly from her hospital bed. Other medics had immediately tended to her bullet wound in her thigh, and she looked much better than she did a few hours ago. Carla was one of the lucky ones.

Genevieve, on the other hand, was not so lucky. Immediately after teleporting them to a nearby subway station, she had missed her collapsed from exhaustion and injury, leaving Gezie to call an ambulance.

Elle wasn't so lucky either. Roman had explained to them all after they left about the fight in the theatre, and her death. He figured the weight of the catwalks and bars up above the stage killed her instantly. It left the boy shaken and panicked, but everyone knew it wasn't his fault. Elle had sealed her own demise.

But Roman, now hopped up on pain meds from getting the shit beat out of him, was still in shock.

"No. We're gonna wait to tell them. I don't wanna worry Gezie," He slurred slightly, burrowing his head into the downy pillow on his bed. "Now leave me alone."

"Well, damn worrying Gezie! This is important! We could die!" Carla insisted sharply. "There is literally a toxin inside of me that will kill me in a few weeks. It's pretty damn important!"

"What?" Jack interrupted, his blue eyes flicking between the pair. "What do you mean, toxin?"

Carla let out a sigh, running a hand through her jet black hair, and met his cold eyes. "While we were being held hostage, Roman was giving an ultimatum. He has to assassinate Luthor, or we die from a poison they gave us," She whispered.

The Med Bay went dead silent. The silence becoming a vacuum of sound, thoughts, and feelings.

The color drained from Jack's face and he felt his heart skip a beat. "I can't let you do that," Jack blurted, almost inaudible.

"You'd put Luthor over our lives?" Carla shot back angrily.

Silence again from Jack.

Finally, he croaked, "I'll… go tell Gezie." He slowly got up, looking away from Carla's cold, hard stare.

He walked out of the room, leaving the dead silence behind, and he could feel her stare burning into the back of his skull. As he exited, he passed Raven, who was entering the room.

The teen looked at the occupants, still silent from the shock.

"Did... you hear all that?" Roman mumbled tiredly, his eyelids drooping slightly.

"Yeah. I heard most of it," Raven said awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Yeah. As much as I like being a hero, sometimes I have to step into the grey area. And that means killing Luthor," Roman sighed, rubbing his temple, a futile attempt to soothe his raging headache

The other teen remained silent, his silver eyes flicking from Carla's shocked and saddened face to Roman's exhausted and pained one. He knew he couldn't say anything to him about it, after all, he had made that deal with Elle about the weapons. A pang of guilt hit his gut, and he winced. Making that deal with the assassin was a low point in his time of being a hero. "I don't have much room to judge. I kinda made a deal with the devil myself."

"What...are you talking about?" Carla said softly, her cold eyes imploring him to continue.

"I-I...when Elle was in jail, I visited her. We made a deal to destroy Luthor's weapons. That was it, I swear. But now that she's dead…"

"And you didn't even tell anyone, huh? See, there's a difference between you and Roman. He didn't have a choice," Carla scoffed venomously.

Raven stayed silent, his eyes transfixing on the floor. "I know." He said hollowly.

Was the deal still on eve though their enemy was now dead? The room seemed emptier than it really was in the dead silence, as no one quite knew what to do at this point.

 **The Academy, Beta Dorms**

 **October 28th, 04:00 P.M. EST**

 **2021**

"Why are you singing that so loudly?" Phoebe snapped from her seat on the couch. The redhead paused the video game she was playing on Ana Holmes' very expensive laptop to whip around and glare at David. The artist was finishing up a painting of the school that Mr. Rashid commissioned him to make for the library. Phoebe was no art critic, ut she was surprised by how realistic and beautiful his piece was.

"It helps me concentrate on my work, and it helps with the creative process," David scoffed from his easel. "You know, you should try being creative sometime instead of playing your video games."

Phoebe opened her mouth, trying to shoot back with something that would win this argument, but slumped back against the couch instead. "It may help you concentrate, but it's not helping me."

David glanced back at her, his eyebrows raising when he noticed what she was playing her video games on. "Isn't that Ana's laptop? She's going to kill you for being on that, you know."

"Pssh. Ana will be fine. She's asleep in her bedroom right now, and besides, she said I could use it for...school projects!" Phoebe lied. Ana had actually given her the passcode for research related to the Justice League's proteges.

"You don't look like you're doing a project." David deadpanned.

"Defeating this boss is a project!" Phoebe protested, but was interrupted by an alert on the computer. Hearing the high pitched sound, the girl squinted at the screen, reading the message that had popped up on the computer. "Zatanna…?" She mouthed as she read the message from one of Ana's associates. Then it really sunk in for her, and the young teen felt her stomach flip.

"Holy shit! Ana, you're not gonna believe this, but you did it! You actually found Zatanna Zatara!" The girl exclaimed, her emerald green eyes wide with surprise and shock.

"Wait, what?" David asked from the kitchen, confused by the outburst.

Not wasting another moment, Phoebe raced down the dorm hall towards Ana's room, intent on telling her the unexpected, but good news. This turn of events, this discovery, was a tiebreaker for the Alpha and Beta teams. And she knew it.

 **.x.x.x.**

 **So you know how every writer gets this really bad case of writer's block every so often? Yeah. That was basically all of February and March. This case was a doozy, and we found ourselves struggling to get this episode done. It was tough, trust us. But we'd like to dedicate this chapter to GX Prodigy and ObieSenpai for motivating us and helping us get back on track for finishing this chapter! Your encouraging words really helped jumpstart our inspiration! Y'all are the best!**

 **Anyways, back to the actual story now. Oh boy. Our group survived their rescue mission. But unfortunately, our girl Elle didn't.**

 **So, we killed off our first major characters and now our team has to deal with ramifications. Carla and Roman's clock is still ticking, and Jack is going to have to find a way to save his boss and his team. Chip was revealed to be Lycan, and this chapter isn't the last you'll see of him. Raven revealed his deal with Elle, and Carla's not too happy about it. It leaves the question, will the team infiltrate Cadmus and go for the weapons? I think you all know the answer.**

 **And another big reveal: Ana managed to find Zatanna! You know what that means. The appearance of the team soon.**

 **Well, that's all we have for today. Motivation (and quality, depending on who you ask) has been elusive, but the quest to find it has begun!**

 **Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed!**

 ** _~The Fangirls_**

 **Questions:**

 **What books does your character read, if any?**

 **How would your character react around the Young Justice team?**

 **Sneak Peek:**

 **"I knew someone would find me sooner or later. But I never thought three teenagers would be the ones to do it."**


	17. S2, Episode 7: Silence

**.**

 **How Far We've Fallen**

 **.x.x.x.x.x.**

 **Season 2, Episode 7**

 _~The YoungJusticeFangirls~_

 **The Academy, Med Bay**

 **November 1st, 04:00 P.M. EST**

 **2021**

"Hold still!" Genevieve chided slightly, adjusting the needle in Roman's arm.

"You've been taking blood samples for hours," The teen protested, grumbling as she adjusted it. Of course, it hadn't exactly been hours. Maybe one, give or take a few minutes.

Shaking her head, the teacher told Roman, "It hasn't been hours, but maybe if you'd stop squirming this would go faster," reading the BP on the vitals' monitor as she continued, "Plus, it's for a good reason. We need to get a sample of the poison to make a cure without you having to kill Mr. Luthor."

Roman grumbled under his breath, shifting a little bit before stopping with a disapproving look from Genevieve.

With his usual grumpy frown, he asked, "Can't we take a short break so I can stop sitting around?"

"Roman. We don't have time for a break. What part of 'life or death situation' don't you understand?" Carla protested from her seat, Travis hovering over what remained of her bullet wound.

Genevieve swiftly pulled the needle out of his arm, and scoffed, "It doesn't matter now. I've already finished." The woman rose from her spot and hurried over to a lab table. "Travis? I need your help comparing these samples."

The blind teen rose from where he was healing Carla's leg, and hurried over to the lab table, beginning to pour over the data with Genevieve.

The lab was pretty silent, except for the occasional murmuring of Travis and Genevieve, and the blip of Avi's IV. The Academy medics had immediately taken care of Avi after Travis healed him, stabilizing the boy and watching over him while the Alpha team went on their mission. Carla was relieved that the teen was going to make a full recovery, and she knew the rest of her team was too.

Hearing a soft groan, Carla glanced over at the inventor, a smile slipping onto her lips. She hadn't realized how much she missed Avi until now. "Hey, Redhawk." She whispered, watching him groggily crack open his eyes. "Have a good nap?"

"What...Carla? They got you out?" Avi's face broke into a grin as their eyes met, and he glanced over at Roman, who sat on the hospital bed opposite of him. "My head is a bit fuzzy from the painkillers. Getting shot hurts like a bitch," He groaned out.

"I know. Some idiot shot me in the thigh," She scowled.

Avi gritted his teeth, then shakily began to push himself up into a sitting position. He knew it probably wasn't the best idea, but he wanted to be able to see his teammates and engage in the conversation. "So...What happened while I was out?"

"Nothing much. Basically, Roman and I have a death clock, Gezie's on the verge of a mental breakdown, Roman also has assassinate Luthor, Genevieve used to be with the rebels. Oh, and Raven went behind our backs and made a deal with Elle," The druidess rattled off sarcastically, holding up her fingers to keep count.

Avi's jaw dropped open, and he paled significantly, "Seriously? I missed all that?"

"Don't forget that Elle's dead, and Jack and Julia fought a werewolf," Roman added darkly.

The mechanic simply stared at the pair in awe and shock, his brown eyes glazing over as he processed the information. "So Raven… betrayed us?" He finally managed to get out, deciding to deal with this bombshell first.

"He had good intentions, bad way of doing them. Raven made a deal with Elle to work with the rebels to infiltrate Cadmus destroy Luthor's weapon stockpile and files," Roman explained further.

Avi feel his pulse race a bit at the mention of weapons; he hadn't exactly told anyone he was the one designing and making them, and the fact that he knew exactly where the files and weapons were being held. Secretly, he was jumping for joy that Raven made this deal, as it was the solution to the illegal weapons problem.

"If I'm being honest here," Avi started casually, "It sounds like a pretty good deal. We want to get those weapons off the market, right? Keep them out of that Queen Bee lady's hands? It's pretty simple, and I'm not even sure we have to work with the rebels! We could do it ourselves!"

"You want us, a bunch of teenagers, to infiltrate Cadmus?" Carla stared at the mechanic incredulously. "As much as I like busting illegal weapons deals, I don't. I'd much rather do normal superhero things, like take tests and stuff."

"Carla, the fate of the world is at stake," Avi deadpanned.

"The fate of my English grade is at stake!"

"I agree with Avi. If we can destroy those weapons and the files, we can end this problem right here. We can be done with the whole Luthor thing. And go back to just being students, and not sneaking around and almost dying," Roman chimed in. "As much as I like fighting and kicking the rebel's asses, someone's going to die soon."

"Someone's already died," Carla said simply, looking him flat in the eyes. The fact that Roman was not the slightest bit sad or torn up about Elle's death made her nervous. He was too cold and he brushed it off too quickly. Sure, maybe he was hot headed, stubborn, and brash, but she didn't think he would brush off something as awful as killing your opponent in battle. "You...don't have a problem with that?" She arched a brow inquisitively.

Roman's thin lips turned downwards, "Not… particularly. I mean, I know it was an awful way to die, but it doesn't bother me. It's strange, you know?"

Carla stayed silent, biting her lip. Avi gave her a concerned glance.

"Well," Avi started, hoping to change the subject. "We'll talk to Gezie to start destroying those files." He knew Carla was too concerned with Roman's lack of empathy to argue with him on this.

His suspicions were correct, and the druidess just blindly nodded her head, trying to wrap her head on why he was so apathetic. Deciding to just chalk up Roman's weird behavior to the painkillers, she remained quiet, lost in thought.

It wasn't quiet for long, as Genevieve and Travis came back, hurrying towards the teens. Genevieve had a rather emotionless look resting on her features, similar but not exactly like Roman's, but Avi could tell that Travis' smile was a bit forced. Obviously, he was trying to keep them all calm for whatever news he needed to break.

"What's the verdict? The suspense is killing me," Carla deadpanned.

Genevieve threw a stack of papers down onto her lap. "We've got problems," She began. "Carla, we analyzed your sample, and yours matches our initial thoughts. You've got an estimated two weeks to live, with possible flu-like symptoms. Except, seeing as this is a deadly toxin, I wouldn't be too surprised if it was a lot worse."

"G-Good news is, If Genevieve and I can work fast enough, we have a fifty-fifty chance of being able to crack the toxin's chemical code, and working out an antidote." Travis tried to soothe the already high tension in the room. He could feel Avi getting more anxious by the second.

"That...sounds like a blast," She croaked out, trying not to show any cracks in her foundation. "How's Roman's end of things?"

"That's the tricky part," Travis interjected, turning to the other red-head. "Roman, can you tell us what happened when you got your powers?"

"I was caught in an explosion at a nitroglycerin plant, and I took a full face of that shit. I guess it kinda melded with my body or something, because it became a part of my sweat. That's how I fly," Roman grumbled, his face darkening at the memory of when he gained his power, but lost his father. "I don't know exactly what happened or why it happened, but I changed. I just...became a totally different person."

"You think your powers are the reason you're an asshole," Carla added, making Roman nod tiredly.

Genevieve's steely emerald gaze met Roman's for a moment, then she handed him a sheet of paper. "If that's true, then we're in for a hell of a ride. That toxin Chip gave you? It integrated with your body. It's a part of you now, and there's no getting rid of it. We don't know why it did this, but I'm betting it was because your body already did the same thing with the nitroglycerin."

Roman's jaw dropped open in shock and horror. No. He couldn't let this happen again, he didn't even know what any of this would mean for him! "So...you're saying…"

"W-Weird side effects. You're probably not going to die, but we think your blood may be acidic now. And, because you hypothesize that you'll experience the same mood swings as you did with your fire powers," Travis added quietly, worry lacing his tone.

"It didn't give me mood swings, it changed my personality completely! I was a nice kid before this! Now…" He trailed off, breathing growing heavier as he wracked his brain for any solutions. "Are you sure there isn't any way to get it out of me?"

"We're sure, it's already a part of you-"

Roman abruptly stood up from his bed jerkily, his red eyes flashing with anger. He quickly pushed past Genevieve and Travis, storming out of the Med Bay.

The medic began to follow after him, "Wait! You can't leave yet-"

Travis gently grabbed her by the arm, "H-He's worked up. I can feel it. I'll tell you when I feel that he's calmed down." He tried to dissuade her from running after the teen. "Why don't we get started on the antidote for Carla?"

"Yeah...I think that might be the best idea. We don't have much time either. Come on, Travis," Genevieve said softly, then the pair went back to the table to begin working on the antidote, chatting softly as they walked.

Despite always being calm and level headed, Carla O'Connell couldn't help but feel a bit anxious and nervous for Roman. He didn't deserve this, no one here deserved any of what they were getting. Silently, she wondered if the toxin in him was the reason he was so indifferent about Elle's death. It would certainly explain a lot. The girl shook her head worriedly, and pulled out a potions book from her bedside table, attempting to push away her turmoil and thoughts.

The Academy, Beta Dorms

November 1st, 05:00 P.M. EST

2021

Lediv plopped down on the couch, turning on the television that was set up in the living room. He didn't pay much attention to the cartoon that was running, instead sprawling out on the couch and letting his eyes drift close.

"You're wasting electricity doing that," Kian commented, standing over the pale teen with a slight frown.

Lazily letting his golden colored eyes flit open, Lediv shrugged as well as he could, humming, "I don't know. I think if I'm listening to it, it's good enough. After all, I'm pretty sure a lot of people fall asleep listening to the T.V," Lediv sat up slowly, getting up to stand in front of the taller boy. Looking up at Kian he gave a unconcerned look, "But if you're so sure, I'll turn the TV off."

"If you're just going to sleep, shouldn't you do it in your room?" Kian questioned, the stocky boy raising an eyebrow. He wasn't trying to hostile. He just...was a little untrusting of their new teammate. The teen gave him the heebie jeebies, and was overly suspicious. Especially since he'd seen that video of how Lediv really came to be. A tube baby. The thought made him all goosebump-y and creeped out.

It's not like he had anything against him because of how he was created, it just seemed a little suspicious, and made him wary of the teen.

Lediv gave a lazy shrug, telling Kian, "Sometimes a couch is nicer. Something I might like could be on when I wake up and I wouldn't have to come out here and turn it on." It was true laziness at its finest, and Lediv had no problem with it.

'There's gotta be something more to this guy. He has Luthor's DNA, and is probably really smart. Plus, he got into Beta even though the other Omegas didn't!' Kian though, narrowing his eyes at the seemingly lazy student. "How'd you get on Beta with that lazy attitude?" He blurted, unable to help himself. He just needed to know how an Omega like Lediv Awbree could possibly be on Beta Team, be partly Luthor's son...creation...thing, but be so lazy!

Raising an eyebrow, the shorter of the two snorted, "If you must know, I have no idea. I guess they pulled names for the lucky sucker able to be transferred out of Omega and, ta-da, Lediv Awbree now officially a member of the Beta Team." Now, Kian didn't believe that one bit, but he hesitantly accepted the answer with a short nod, which Lediv returned before plopping back on the couch. This time though, he left room for Kian to sit beside him with a silent invitation, which the blue eyed boy took.

"So, what do you usually watch?" Kian asked after a few minutes of listening to the trilling laugh of Spongebob Squarepants.

"I don't know. I mostly just listen and sleep. Sometimes I'll put on the nightly news, that shit works like NyQuil," Lediv shrugged, smirking a little. He glanced over at Kian, asking casually, "You probably know some martial arts from your old man, wanna watch some MMA to remember him?"

Kian froze at the sudden comment, blue eyes narrowing at the lanky boy. "How did you know that?" He questioned, tensing up. It seemed that Lediv knew more about him than visa versa, despite attempts to fix that. How did he know about this? He'd kept to himself, revealing nothing to no one. And here was the new kid, just dropping his information around like it was nothing. And if Ledvi knew about his history...the stocky boy wondered if he knew the others' pasts.

The other teen only paused in shock for a moment, before swiftly collecting himself. Lediv gave his most casual shrug before informing, "You kinda look the type of person to do some like...martial arts, y'know? And, well, who better to teach you than your dad, who obviously had to have had experience of his own? Plus, if he taught you, and I'm guessing you're pretty decent to be on Beta, he must have been kind of a pro." The explanation came out slowly, and...easily. It was as if Lediv had practiced being surprised, frozen, like a normal person would, then explaining it slowly like he came up with it on the spot. Kian decided that Lediv had to be the mole he'd heard about. It couldn't have been someone else, right?

Despite his newfound knowledge, and slight worry, about Lediv, Kian nodded slowly with a, "Make sense," Before making up a lame excuse to go back to his room. He knew he had to tell his and the Alpha team, but...his team was already out for the day and the Alpha team seemed to already have enough troubles. Sitting on the edge of his bed, Kian made a decision. Whether it was a great decision was debatable, but in that moment? It was what he chose to do, and hoped that it was right.

 **Metropolis**

 **November 1st, 07:00 P.M. EST**

 **2021**

"This it?" Jace asked cautiously, her eyes flicking over the front of the cheerful and tidy apartment. It was certainly a Metropolis apartment building; the outside was painted a vibrant spring yellow, and daisy's were planted in flower boxes on the window sills.

"It'd better be. It took us an hour on the subway to get here. And the subway is not a fun time," Phoebe huffed, glancing at Ana for confirmation.

After a moment of staring at her laptop screen, brows furrowed, a smile broke across

Ana's face. "Yeah. This is the building. Apartment Thirty-two B." She began to hurry into the yellow building, with Jace and Phoebe scrambling to keep up.

"What if Zatanna's not here, Ana? What if she's moved on already, and someone else lives here?" Jace asked breathlessly as they climbed the apartment stairs.

"Then we're out of luck, and we keep looking," She grunted back, walked down the hall in search of the right apartment. "Here we are," Ana gestured to a door, and the girls crowded around.

Phoebe grinned and quickly pressed the doorbell a few times, and Jace swatted her hand away. "Don't be a pest," She whispered to the older girl as the bolt slid in the door.

"Hello?" The voice inside was melodious and light, and made Ana's chest swell with the hope that they actually found Zatanna. But upon seeing the young woman behind the door, the hope dissipated. The owner of the voice had long blonde, almost white hair that was pulled back into a braid and icy blue eyes. Glancing at her picture of Zatanna on her phone, Ana knew this woman wasn't her.

"Sorry for bothering you ma'am…" Ana mumbled almost inaudibly, dejected by their failure.

"Excuse me. I'm looking for a woman named Zatanna. Are you her?" Phoebe blurted, elbowing Ana hardly.

The woman blinked, "Uh, no I-I don't know a Zatanna. Sorry." She muttered out, beginning to close the door. Phoebe promptly slammed her foot in the doorway, jamming the entrance.

"Wait! Are you sure? We found out that this was her address and-"

"Yes! I'm very sure. Now, please, go away." She hissed back, her blue eyes growing cold.

"Can you tell us if you know her? We need to know!" Phoebe yelled, pressing her body weight against the door in an attempt to keep her from slamming it shut. "We need her to tell us about Cadmus!"

Ana finally sprung into action, grabbing her arm and beginning to pull her teammate away from the door, and yanked her away from the woman.

"What did you just say?"

Ana was aware that the woman wasn't trying to slam the door shut anymore, instead she was staring straight at the teens, her icy blue eyes wide in shock. "What did you just say?" She repeated softly, her hand gripping the door frame, her knuckles turning white from the sheer force.

"We need you to give us information on Cadmus," Jace whispered softly, her gaze meeting the other woman's.

The blonde took a deep breath, then stepped back from the door, granting them admission to her apartment. "Get in here. Before I can answer any of your questions, you have to answer some of mine."

The girls glanced between each other, then quickly filed into the mysterious woman's apartment. Ana couldn't help but feel that this was how every horror movie started, but she needed answers, and couldn't complain. She'd done some weird things for a good story, and this didn't even come close to some of the tales she had amassed over the few years.

The inside of the apartment was just as cheery as the outside. Her living room was painted a soft, relaxing lavender and a cream colored sofa was pushed up against the wall. Baby blue throw pillows stuffed the piece of furniture, while daisys sat in a vase on the oak coffee table

"Sit." The woman commanded, pointing to the sofa as she grabbed a red coffee mug off the table. The girl's hurried over and quickly sat, eager for explanation.

"I'm warning you now," The woman began, taking a sip. "If this is any type of trick, any type of trap, you will be dead before you can comprehend what's happening. Understand, girls?

They remained silent, exchanging nervous glances. What kind of civilian threatened three heroes with death? She was obviously hiding something but had something against Cadmus, otherwise she wouldn't have let them in, Ana reasoned silently.

"What should we call you?" Jace asked politely, her eyes roaming around the living room.

"Call me Mary." Their host replied shortly.

"That's a common name," Phoebe remarked.

"Does that mean anything important to you?"

"Well, no-"

"Then be quiet. I want to make this as quick as I possibly can, and I can't do that with you talking uselessly." Mary scoffed pointedly, sipping her warm drink. "Now. Let's talk business. Where did you girls say you were from again?" She asked, arching a brow.

"We're from the Academy downtown. You know, Luthor's school?" Ana said, hoping to get some reaction out of Mary by dropping Luthor's name

"Believe me, I know all about that place. I pity you," The woman said softly, her icy blue eyes narrowed into slits.

She was getting somewhere, Ana thought dryly, Mary certainly seemed like she wasn't a fan of Luthor. Maybe they could play that to their advantage.

"We're investigating something that's going on. Illegal weapons deal," Ana explained to her.

"What type of weapons are we talking about here?" Mary shot back, leaning forward expectantly.

"Nuclear weapons, bombs, guns that are years ahead of the ones we use in the military."

"Essentially, the bad shit," Phoebe added.

"The bad shit. Great. I believe you on the fact that this is bad," She let out a sigh, rubbing her temple. "And a bunch of teenagers are handling this?"

"Who else will, Ma'am?"

"Oh, I don't know, the police? Luthor? The headmaster at your school?" Mary asked incredulously, arching a perfectly groomed brow.

"Luthor is the one running the operation. He's working with Cadmus to manufacture and distribute the weapons to one of his buyers," Jace answered quietly, shifting uncomfortably.

The woman was silent for a moment, lost deep in thought apparently.

"The buyer is a woman in Bialya named Queen Bee. My friend found this out from one of Luthor's close associates," Ana continued. "We don't know who she is-"

"I know who she is. I know her. W-We…" Mary trailed off, her hands clenching into a fist. A look a resignation and defeat crossed the woman's face as she steeled herself. "My team and I dealt with Queen Bee on multiple occasions. You're in deep."

"Your team?" Jace asked incredulously.

"Yes. My team. We were… a group of proteges. A covert group of teens. We took on things the Justice League couldn't." She whispered, a faraway look in her ice blue eyes.

A silence encompassed the group for a few moments as the girl's processed this new information. Ana collected herself first; the teen pulled a folder out of her backpack, and flipped through the files inside, grabbing a few.

Handing the page to the woman, Mary took it gingerly, as if she were afraid of what she might find detailed on it, and her blue eyes flicked over the information. "Aqualad… Artemis… Superboy…" She muttered, her voice growing hoarse with each name she read. "Where did you find these? Who's are they?"

"Jace and I found them in an office at the Academy. It was on our first day, and they were getting ready to shred them." Ana informed her. "That's how we found you. We've been trying to use the information that isn't inked out to find all of your team."

"Is… there one on Zatanna?" Mary held her breath, and Ana handed her a paper. The woman ran a hand through her golden hair and let out a sigh in trepidation. "This… this is bad. If they had these papers on me years ago, what kind of information do they have on me now?"

"Information on you? This is information on Zatanna. Unless… you have something to admit…" Phoebe gave her a sly smirk, and leaned forward in her seat eagerly.

Mary gave a small sigh of reluctant defeat, her eyes flashing with frustration. Everyone in the room knew Phoebe was triumphant. Rising from her seat, she quickly pulled the curtains of the windows, and stormed over to the door to make sure it was locked. Finally, she turned around and shot Phoebe a quick glare. "Yawa htiw eht mrahc!" She suddenly commanded. With a flash of golden light, Mary was gone, and in her place sat an older girl with olive skin. Raven black hair spilled over her shoulder, and her cerulean blue eyes glared at them intensely. "Happy now?" She grumbled.

"I knew it!" Phoebe jumped up from her seat, pointing at the raven-haired woman. "I knew you were Zatanna, I was right! Ha!"

"Yes, yes. You were right about something, we get it. Are you done now?" Zatanna snapped, watching as Phoebe gave a satisfied nod. "Good."

"Alright. Let's get back to business. You and the team knew a lot about Luthor and Cadmus, I'm assuming. So you can help us find a way to destroy those weapons, or reveal the truth to the public." Ana started, flipping through the weapon files Gezie, Avi, and Travis found the night of the dance. "Though, exposing Luthor may be hard, he's the president now. But if we can get the public opinion against him, criminalize him, we might just be able to pull this off."

"That's going to be extremely hard. Luthor has connections everywhere. That woman who is receiving the first shipment of weapons, Queen Bee? She's the dictator of Bialiya and looking to expand her empire all throughout the Middle-East." Zatanna explained, eyes narrowing in thought. "If those two are partnered up, and if Bee has those weapons, they'll virtually be unstoppable."

"Not to mention, Luthor could have other allies we don't even know about yet," Jace chimed in worriedly.

Phoebe let out a hum of disapproval, "This means trouble. Real trouble. And with the Alpha Team taking on the Light of Justice and their mole, and with us dealing with that new kid, Lediv...We might not be able to pull this off as easily as we thought."

"Hold up, the Light of Justice? I… remember them. They were wannabe heroes, radicals who loathed Luthor, even more than I do." The former hero said slowly, connecting the dots. "And with Luthor running the show at the school, it's going to be tough to hide this."

There was another heavy silence that filled the air, an unsureness of whether the heroes would be able to complete the heavy trials and obstacles that lay ahead.

"Zatanna...What happened to the rest of your team? Why are you all in hiding?" Jace asked timidly.

That question alone seemed to make the woman freeze up in her spot, her face darkening considerably. The silence was even more awkward, making Jace instantly regret what she said. Finally, Zatanna spoke up, "The day that changed everything...isn't a day any of us are proud of."

 _Star City, Cadmus Labs_

 _11:30 P.M. PST_

 _June 17th, 2016_

" _Keep moving! We don't have much time!" Robin shouted as he and his little squad flew down the hall. Usually, the young teen was calm and collected during missions, and the team had recognized this. The fact that Robin was not calm now made his partners nervous and anxious, the stakes were high this time._

 _The teen heard the faint sound of footsteps flying behind him, and did his best to increase his speed. Glancing back behind him, he noticed that his opponent was indeed coming for him. Following Robin and his group at a pace that could rival Superboy's was a tall, muscular man, wearing a white solar suit, similar to the one they found their half-kryptonian clone in a few years ago._

 _"We've got to lose him somehow," Artemis hissed from beside him, sweat dotting her brow._

 _"Can we call for backup?" Zatanna asked him, putting her hands out and yelling, "Reirrab!"_

 _A bright golden force field blocked off the White hall of the facility. The powered individual following them jumped straight through it, shattering the magical force field. "Yeah, that's going to be a problem," The magician muttered._

 _"We need a plan!" Artemis shouted as she sprinted, nocking an arrow and shooting it at the man. A thick, black foam shot out, entrapping him and effectively restraining him._

 _Robin passed a few offices, and grabbed the girl's arms, pulling them inside._

 _"So? Plan?" Zatanna prompted, speaking a slow protection spell for the metal door._

 _"Let's recap for a second. We're going up against a Cadmus augmented man, with invulnerability. Great," Robin muttered to himself, wracking his brain for a solution._

 _It was supposed to be a simple mission. Just one, simple mission. Infiltrate Cadmus, investigate the illegal operations that was suspected to be going on_

 _It was not simple. The team had found out about Cadus' operations, specifically, their human experimentation. Miss Martian and Superboy had been distraught ad horrified to find children younger than them with powers that could take out cities, Robin had been appalled that Cadmus could strip away people's lives so easily._

 _Unfortunately, the "simple" mission did not turn out as they hoped. One of the powered individuals, called 0973 by the file Robin had hacked into, was tasked with guarding the compound. He had discovered Robin and his squad on one of the lower levels. Now, Robin, Zatanna, and Artemis were being hunted by him._

 _"Robin," Aqualad's voice came over his comm. "Miss Martian has engaged a meta with telepathic abilities."_

 _"We've gotten the same stuff up here, except we've have a man with invulnerability." Robin replied quietly. "Someone really doesn't want us going through their files and facility."_

 _"No duh, idiot," Artemis muttered from beside him as she caught her breath. "Where was your first clue?"_

 _"Batman has ordered us to disengage. We've uncovered a lot here already, and we don't need any more information. We can't risk the safety on anyone else," Aqualad relayed the information._

 _"I agree. We got the info we came for, now we should get out of here and regroup," Robin nodded._

 _"Plan our next attack," Zatanna added._

 _"Sounds good. Meet you at the rondeau point. I must help Miss M with her foe," Aqualad replied, then went off the comm._

 _Robin pulled out his wrist watch, and began to hack into the security camera system. It took a minute, with all the heavy codes and encryptions Cadmus had, but the boy wonder soon had access to all the cameras. Around the facility, his teammates were dealing with their own super-soldier opponents. Miss Martian and Aqualad were fighting off a telepathic man, and Superboy and Kid Flash took on a woman with super strength._

 _Robin pressed a few more buttons, and accessed the cameras in the halls of their level. "Looks like 0973 is still contained by that hardened foam you shot. Nice, Artemis."_

 _"It might not last much longer, so we'll have to hurry," Zatanna murmured to them, her blue eyes sweeping the screen. "Coast is clear. Let's head out."_

 _The teens burst out of the office they had been hiding in, and sprinted down the hall. Making a left, Robin pulled the girls towards another hall with their objective in sight: a window._

 _The Cadmus facility had almost no windows and doors, but the office levels did, making for an easy escape._

 _Artemis reached it first, and she grabbed the sill, forcing the window up with a grunt. Peering down below, she let out a disapproving hum as she noticed they were a solid six floors above the pavement. "We'll have to be careful. We're a bit of a ways up."_

 _"Grappling Hook," Robin sang, smirking at her, then shot a line down to a street pole below, and attached the other to the window. "Meet you down there." He dove out the window, silently flying through the night._

 _"May I?" Zatanna asked, her lips turning upwards when Artemis nodded in affirmation. "Etativel su nwod!"_

 _A bright golden glow enveloped the two girls as they were gently lifted off their feet and levitated down to the pavement. On their way down though, Aqualad came crackling over the comm._

 _"Miss Martian and I found a bomb in one of the lower levels! Everyone needs to evacuate, now!" He shouted._

 _"Shit," Artemis cursed. As soon as their feet hit the ground, the girl's took off running, putting some distance between the building and themselves._

 _Zatanna caught a blur of red flash by, then saw Superboy smashing through one of the walls on the west side, and quickly hurrying away from the building._

 _"Aqualad and Miss M are almost out. They said there was no time to disable it," KF said to Artemis quickly, his green eyes roaming the building for any sign of the Martian and Atlantean. The pair soon came into view, bloodied and bruised, but alive._

 _It was at that moment the bomb went off._

 _The ground shook violently, the group shielding their eyes from the bright, orange ball of fire. It seemed that the team had gotten extremely lucky, once again delaying death._

 _"All those kids and people in there," Miss Martian whispered as soon as she flew to the group._

 _Aqualad, covered in soot, put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, "I know. It's terrible, but there was no time to-"_

 _Another roar erupted from a building next to them, the blast sending the team flying backwards. Zatanna's ears were ringing, a large gash stretched across her forehead from some glass and debris. Her blurry vision could faintly make out the rubble of an apartment building, and her stomach dropped. It seemed they hadn't been so lucky after all._

 **Metropolis**

 **November 1st, 10:00 P.M. EST**

 **2021**

"We didn't know that they had set up another bomb in an apartment building nearby. We originally thought that it was an attempt at our lives, but soon we realized it was an attempt on our image. They wanted us to look guilty. So they could turn the public opinion against us," Zatanna said softly, pain etched on every inch of her face. "We had to go into hiding after that."

"It was a set up," Ana realized, making the woman across from her weakly nod. "So Luthor could get you off his back, and he could continue his operation."

"Where's everyone else?" Jace's eyes searched Zatanna's for an answer.

"Miss Martian is on Mars right now, Aqualad went back to Atlantis, and I think Superboy is with Superman. The last I heard of Kid Flash and Artemis, they're still fighting crime on the sly."

"What about Robin?"

"See, that's the thing," Zatanna bit her lip. "Robin's been missing for about a year."

Another round of silence filled the room as the girl's collected themselves from the shock of her story. "We have to tell Gezie." Phoebe whispered, exchanging a glance with the others.

"We'll be back tomorrow to discuss our plan with you more. Right now, we have to tell the others," Ana said quickly, grabbing her stuff. She met Zatanna's concerned gaze. "Thank you for everything. And don't worry, your secret is safe with us."

Jace began to protest, "I still have more questions-"

"That will be answered later. Come on," Ana grabbed their arms, and began to drag them towards the doors. " Thank you, again!"

And with that, Ana unlocked Zatanna's door and the girls hurried into the halls. Flying down the steps, the sense of urgency to alert the others of what they had found out took root inside of them.

 **The Academy, Alpha Dorms**

 **November 1st, 08:00 P.M. EST**

 **2021**

Julia stomped around the living room, a deep frown on her face. It was obvious she was concerned for her friends, and furious. Angry at Elle, who was dead, for having met her, because the woman had kept popping up and ruining their missions. Angry at the Raven, for betraying them, even it was out of the best intentions. Angry at herself because she couldn't help her friends. She wasn't a healer, she was someone who fought. She fought for her friends. Though, it seemed she couldn't really fight out of them being poisoned.

Gezie pursed her lips as she watched her friend pace back and forth. She was worried for Roman and Carla too, but she knew that they'd make it through. They had to make it through. After all, Genevieve and Travis were laboring over the antidote. It was quite the situation though, and Gezie understood Julia's need to work of her indignation.

Raven, who had been in his room thinking, finally shuffled out into the living room, averting his gaze from the two girls. He cleared his throat softly, getting the attention of Gezie and Julia, and pausing the latter's pacing for a brief moment.

"Hey guys," the dark haired boy waved, trying for a warm smile. He only half succeeded, but Gezie waved him to sit by her, though Julia looked at him like he was a stranger. Or dangerous.

"Hi Raven," Gezie greeted as he sat beside her. Julia gave him a nod of acknowledgement before going into the kitchen, presumably to get a drink, but mostly so she wouldn't have to adress Raven. Carla had revealed to the team about how Raven had made a deal with the devil herself. The druidess had also disclosed the information to Gezie, and Julia was having a difficult time understanding how she could be so calm around him. How she could act so nonchalant and normal around him, how she could just gloss over what he did, how she could greet him like he hadn't betrayed the team. Was she just going to skip over it? Was she going to totally ignore him and pretend everything was just fine and dandy?

In the back of her mind, Julia knew this wasn't fair. Gezie was stressed and overworked from spreading herself thin. Being a leader was one of the arduous things someone could endure. Maybe confronting Raven about the hard truth was just something she couldn't handle right now.

Julia let out a small sigh, then padded into the kitchen for a drink to take her mind off of everything.

"How's your day going?" He asked cheerfully, though it was noticeably forced. His face fell when he saw Julia leave the room.

"Well," Gezie began slowly, tucking a stray lock of her sandy, blonde hair behind her ear. "I had a math test today, so that was awful."

Raven furrowed his brows in surprise; after everything that had happened, everything that was about to happen, she found a math test horrible? Then he realized that she was trying to make him feel better, trying to be normal. Trying not to stress him out.

"I forgot you hate math," He smirked at her gratefully. It felt nice to talk about normal kid things.

"Yup. Bane of my existence," Gezie chuckled, then her face softened seriously. "Raven, we have to talk. I'm not going to yell, and I'm not mad. But you went behind our backs, so I think you owe us an explanation."

"Gez, you already know why I did it. It was the quickest way to solve the problem. I just...dreaded telling you," Raven sighed, meeting her blue eyes. "And besides, you've done plenty of sneaking around and going behind backs."

Gezie protested gently, "So what if I have? I didn't outright make a deal with the enemy. What if you or someone on the team got killed because of it? I-I couldn't...I couldn't…"

Raven knew he shouldn't press her much. After seeing her break down over Roman and Carla's capture, he knew she was walking the thin line of mental health. It pained him to see their strong and brave leader genuinely broken and high strung. He'd have to be careful with what he said.

"So maybe I'm in the wrong here. My intention still stands, I was trying to get us out of this. I thought it was our best chance," He pleaded.

The girl's eyes flicked downwards guiltily, "I think it's our best chance now too."

Raven's eyebrows shot upwards in shock and disbelief as she told him, "Let me explain. Avi came to me an hour or so ago, explaining why he thought we should still go through with it. And, well, it made sense. We could possibly get the antidote for that toxin, and destroy the weapons. I know we probably shouldn't trust the Light of Justice, but…"

"The enemy of our enemy is our friend?" Raven guessed.

"Right. And I'm thinking we could help each other out. They want to destroy Luthor, we want the weapons gone. I don't think they'll refuse the offer, especially after everything that's been happening," Gezie mused. She turned to him inquisitively, "Now, the question of how to get in contact with them. What did Elle tell you?"

"She...gave me a phone number a while back. She never told me who it belonged to. Elle said she'd get in contact with me, so I never used it," Raven told her, pulling out his phone, pulling up the contact. The pair glanced at each other, and Gezie nodded in conformation.

There was a tense moment of waiting as the phone rang, and for a moment, the teens thought no one would pick up. Then someone did.

"Who are you?" A woman's gravelly voice demanded from the other end. The kid's eyes widened in shock, and Gezie gestured at him hurriedly to answer.

"Uh, my name's Raven Arisato. I was given this number by a woman named Elle a few weeks ago. She wanted to discuss some stuff," He said unsurely, shrugging to his leader.

The line went silent for a bit, and Raven thought she might have hung up. "Raven? That jackass from the Academy?" The voice demanded.

"Erm, yeah. I'm that jackass," He chuckled nervously.

Another pause. "Lemme get Chip." She snapped.

Raven wasn't waiting for long, though he did hear some hushed voices hissing to each other, and he frowned. Perhaps his call wouldn't be welcome. "Raven? You still there?" The unmistakable voice of Chip Canley grunted from the other end.

"Y-Yeah, I'm here." He stammered out, taken aback by how rough and dark Chip's voice sounded.

"How the hell did you get this number?" He growled.

"Elle offered us a deal a few weeks ago at the docks. She wanted to work with us to destroy Luthor's weapons, and gave me this number. I want to accept her proposition," Raven held a bated breath, waiting for Chip's reactions.

"And what if you're lying?"

"If I had lied, how did I get this number?"

More silence on the other end. "Fair point," Chip conceded finally. "So, you want to infiltrate Cadmus with us?"

"Yup. After all, the enemy is my friend." Raven chuckled a bit to ease the tension, but promptly trailed off upon hearing that the other man wasn't laughing. Clearing his throat, he continued, "Listen, Gezie doesn't know about this. She'd kill me, they'd all kill me. But I have to admit, I hate Luthor. He's pulled some shady stuff these past few years, and after finding your weapon files at the docks, it's made me resent him even more. I know you don't trust me… and I don't know if my word will be enough. But I can't keep sitting under Luthor's thumb anymore, I have to follow my heart and do what's right."

Raven knew he was ranting, grasping at straws, but his team needed this. Needed it badly, they had to finish this. They knew people were dying, and a lot more people would be dead if they didn't end this soon. Mass destruction was not something he wanted to see.

"You know, you really sound like a goody-two shoes right now. I'm guessing you haven't really experienced tragedy." Chip laughed darkly.

"I have, I just prefer to keep a positive outlook," Raven retorted, hurt that the man was now mocking him.

"Tell you what, we were going to break into Cadmus in a few weeks anyways. We could use your help coming a long. The teleportation stuff might be able to help in a pinch," Chip mused. Raven could practically hear him smiling on the other side of the phone. "We could use you a lot."

"Alright. No hard feelings then, right?"

"Right…" The man trailed off rather furtively, then continued. "We'll get in contact with you when our details are more certain. As much as I hate you, I have to admit you're right about one thing: The enemy of my enemy is my friend."

And with that, the line went dead, leaving Raven with the unmistakable silence again. "Well, that was awkward. Not pleasant either." He gave Gezie a small smile of relief.

"You were incredible! You lied like a champ!" She beamed brightly, then held up her hand. "So, wait, that's it? You're in?

Raven shifted a bit, "I think so. It could be a trap, but since I'm bringing you all as back up…"

"You think we'll have the upper hand on this mission. Nice," The girl nodded, her blue eyes going glassy as a plan began to formulate in her head. Possibly, if they could pull this off, they may be able to get a few of the rebel members arrested. That was if they didn't get caught, of course.

"Hello, earth to Gezie?" Raven snapped his fingers to pull her out of her deep thoughts. "No more plotting and scheming for the day. Let's do something normal teens would for once, no worrying about dangerous weapons or insane rebels." The boy went over to the coffee table and held up her Algebra book.

"I...could actually use some work with that. I'm pretty sure I failed that test," She admitted, flopping down on the couch and patting the spot next to her. Flipping open the book to the right page, Raven was happy to get lost in a distraction, even if it meant doing homework. It was nice to find simplicity among all the chaos that had consumed them.

* * *

 **AN:**

 **Woo! We got this bad boy done, and hoo boy, it was a doozy. So, a lot happened this chapter, and we don't blame you if you're overwhelmed. But a lot of plot things came together and a lot of things were expanded on here. Just stick with us, it all leads up to the finale.**

 **One thing we're debating on is whether to make this story a 3 seasoned story or a 4 seasoned story. We're not sure where we want this story to end at, so we're open to suggestions. But yes, to the curious reader, season 2 is approaching its end. As in, three-ish more chapters.**

 **Anyways, let's recap, shall we?**

 **It seems Carla has death on her doorstep, but not if the Medics can't stop the toxin from killing her! They'll be pooling all their time and effort into cracking this code in the next few chapters. But it seems Roman's toxin intergrated with his system, giving personality changes and possibly… new powers.**

 **It seems our friendly Beta-Teamer Lediv knew more than he let on to the team. Wonder where this will lead, hmm? And with Kian, hot on his trail, things aren't going so well for our Betas.**

 **Continuing that thought, the debut of Zatanna! We know some people have wanted canon characters, and now here they are! The files found Chapter 2 have come up again, showing that every little plot detail we write over here contributes to our main plot. Sit tight, children, we'll reveal our hand eventually.**

 **And Raven is trying to play Chip, and get the weapons out of the way. Oh boy. If you're thinking this won't end well, you're not wrong!**

 **But spoilers aren't any fun, so we'll save our breath for the next installment.**

 **Thanks for reading, everyone! We're taking on this case of writer's block like a champ, and your support has been amazing!**

 **~The Fangirls.**

 **Questions:**

 **Would you like to see 3 or 4 seasons?**

 **What do you think of the fight scenes so far?**

 **Where would you like your character's arc to head?**


	18. S2, Episode 8: Split

**.**

 **How Far We've Fallen**

 **.x.x.x.x.x.**

 **Season 2, Episode 8**

 _~The YoungJusticeFangirls~_

 **The Academy, Alpha Dorms**

 **November 5th, 04:00 P.M. EST**

**2021**

Avi Redhawk felt like he was about to tear his hair out, and it wasn't because of Luthor, his injury, or Roman and Carla's predicament. Surprisingly, he wasn't that worried about their situation right now. Travis and Genevieve were on the verge of a breakthrough for the antidote. Sure, the whole illegal weapons deal worried him, but at the moment, he had bigger issues. Namely, Catori White.

"Why do we have to do this?" The young girl sitting next to him at the kitchen table whined.

"For the thirteenth time, Cat," Avi growled, his teeth grinding together in frustration. "Travis asked me to tutor you in your math since he's busy."

"Busy with what?" She sighed exasperatedly, letting her head drop onto the table, her large eyes looking up at him innocently.

Avi shot her a glare, "You know what. Travis is busy saving lives. And I'm attempting to help you with your homework!" The other teen had been in the lab with Genevieve all week, trying to crack the chemicals that held death over Carla's head.

"Why?" She batted her eyes innocently.

"Because I said so!"

Julia padded into the kitchen, dressed in a black tank top and pair of shorts, her light brown hair hanging down loosing into a braid, her skin glowing from sweat and exercise. The teen took one glance at Avi and Cat, and let out chuckle.

"I see we're tackling the impossible this afternoon," She smirked, opening the fridge and rifling around inside.

"It's not impossible to teach a nine-year old girl simple math!" The mechanic growled, craning a neck to see what she was looking for. His chocolate brown eyes zeroed in on a ripe apple on the counter by the fridge. "Julia, mind throwing me that apple over there?" He called.

A moment later, the fruit came sailing out of the kitchen, but before Avi could catch it, Catori intercepted it and danced away from the the mechanic. "Are we playing baseball?" She grinned mischievously, taking a bit out of it.

"Hey!" Avi protested, then shot a glare at Julia, who was laughing from inside the kitchen.

"I have to agree with Boom Girl over there. Teaching me math is an impossible task for you," Cat taunted, hopping up onto the kitchen table. "Wanna know why?"

"Please, do enlighten me."

"Because I don't want to do homework. Climbing trees is for me!" She crowed, enjoying the frustration that slowly creeped onto Avi's face.

Julia leaned on the wall of the kitchen, watching the banter with an amused look. "I'd have to agree with her. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make her drink. But I have to say, watching you two argue is pretty damn entertaining."

"You know what? Fuck it. Go climb a tree, Cat. I'm going to go get some stuff done on my drum set," Avi growled, turning around. It was at that moment when the door to the dorm creaked open, and he frowned. A tall, dark skinned man stepped inside and gazed at the three kids, but not before taking a swig from his beat up flask.

"Harvard? What are you doing here?" Avi asked, his face a mixture of surprise and confusion. The man didn't approach him often, unless...it was for Luthor or Rashid.

"Harvard? Don't you mean Mr. Jasper?" Julia asked dryly from beside him, an annoyed look on her face. It was obvious that she wasn't happy seeing her combat teacher her. She wasn't too big a fan of him, especially since he drank what seemed like all the time. She wondered how long it would take for his kidneys and liver to give out. Genevieve must know that Harvard was unhealthy from drinking too much, then why did she allow it to continue? Was there just no point in stopping it? No saving Mr. Jasper?

"R-Right, yeah. Completely forgot," Avi corrected himself, fear spiking his pulse as he realized his teammate caught onto his slip up. What if she questioned why he really called the man by his first name? "Hey, do you guys mind leaving us for a moment?" He asked hoarsely.

"But I still have more to tease you about!" Catori protested, crossing her arms and pouting in refusal. Julia's obisidean eyes narrowed in suspicion, making the teen gulp.

Harvard walked towards them, shaking his head. "They don't need to leave. It's nothing really important." He grunted, pulling a wrinkled envelope out of his back pocket. "Rashid wants you off the team due to your injury. He doesn't think it's a good idea to let you stay on the team with your wound. Don't worry too much though, he has other things you can do around campus."

Avi tensed up, eyes widening in surprise. He was getting kicked off Team Alpha. Of course, he knew exactly why. It wasn't because of an injury. It was because of those damn _weapons_ they wanted him building. Instead of protesting like he would love to, he just gave a little nod as he tried not to sound hostile while saying, "I understand."

On the other hand, Julia opened her mouth in shock and disbelief, "Look, I get that Avi is hurt, but he's part of Alpha for a _reason_. He shouldn't be off the team just because of a wound that's healing fine. It's not like we're going on some dangerous mission soon or whatever."

"It doesn't matter whether you have a mission coming up or not. What Rashid is concerned about is Avi's recovery. He feels that it is for the best that he focuses on getting better instead of missions or school work. Your team will just have to compensate for the time being," Harvard shrugged, "You guys are the Alpha Team, top students in the school. Rashid was pretty sure you guys could handle it. But, then again, I'm not as confident in teenagers as he is…" The teacher smirked, turning away to leave.

Julia felt heat rise to her cheeks in frustration and annoyance; was he even _trying_ to be mature? For someone who was supposed to be the adult, Harvard was lacking a lot of tact and was not acting his age. The passive aggressive remark he just made said it all.

"Your vote of confidence means _so_ much to us, especially since it's coming from a drunk," Julia shot back hotly, her obsidian eyes narrowing.

Avi's eyes widened upon hearing the exchange, and his head whipped around to his teammate. He shook his head, subtly mouthing _'No'_ to her. Many people brought up Harvard's drinking problem, but it was never a good idea. He knew the reason Havard always had a bottle of gin in hand, and it was not a pretty reason. A rather sad one, to be exact.

The result of Julia's dig at him was shown in less than a second, as the combat teacher immediately froze. His fingers twitched for a moment, and he slowly turned back towards the group. His face held a dangerously impassive expression, reminding Julia of just how powerful Harvard was. He was the combat teacher for a reason, alcoholic or not. He was an amazing fighter, and messing with him -at least too much- wasn't the best choice. True as all of that was though, Julia wouldn't stand down.

"What, cat got your tongue or you just shocked by a teenager?" The artist snarked, crossing her arms as she returned the expression with a hard gaze.

Harvard returned to gaze before shaking his head. "This," He held up his flask, the liquid sloshing about inside. "Is from the military. It's the thanks I get for fighting for this damn country. You don't know shit, kid. Even though you think you do." He growled, then turned to Avi, "Pack your stuff. You're gonna be living somewhere else. You have until the end of the day to say your 'see ya's and whatever."

With that, the combat teacher left, not letting Julia or Avi say anything to protest.

 **The Academy, Alpha Dorms**

 **November 5th, 05:00 P.M. EST**

**2021**

"'What do the blue curtains symbolize?'" Gezie read aloud, contemplating the question for English as she crossed her arms.

Raven shrugged, trying to balance a pencil on his nose as he responded, "No idea. That the author wanted the curtains to be blue?"

Gezie rolled her eyes, huffing, "C'mon Raven, you can at least try to answer the question how you know Mr. Lector wants us to answer. Now, what do you think the blue curtains symbolize?"

"Probably the sadness the mother felt, and how she used blue to remember her son," a new voice chimed in, "or something."

It was Lediv, standing in the doorway with a backpack hanging from his shoulders. The pale teen looked a bit spacey, but was there for a reason. There _always_ was a reason when it came to anything at this school.

"Oh, hey Lediv, what are you doing here?" Gezie asked, feeling her stomach turn uneasily. She didn't trust him, not from what Ana and the other Beta-Teamers had told her.

Raising an eyebrow, Lediv told her his voice flat with mock enthusiasm, "Well, you see, I've been transferred to the Alpha team. Whee. Great to be here."

Gezie felt her stomach drop in the most sickening way, and she opened her mouth to utter out a congratulations. Nothing came out. She supposed she was lucky she didn't vomit instead.

"Welcome to the team then Lediv, I'm Raven!" The black haired boy greeted, slightly more enthusiastic than Gezie. It wasn't exactly the best time to get a new person on the team, especially when they still had a mole amidst them. Raven then casually asked, "So, why did you get transferred?"

"This whole school needs to work on their communication skills," the slightly taller boy muttered under his breath before sighing, "You should ask you mechanic. He'll tell you all about it."

Gezie frowned in confusion as she asked, "What do you mean he'll tell us about it?"

"Well, he's kind of the reason I'm transferring on," Lediv hinted, adjusting the straps on his backpack as Raven pondered the hint before his eyes widened. He and Gezie seemed to get to the same conclusion as they shared a concerned look.

"Uh, sorry to cut your welcome short, but we should, y'know, find Avi and stuff. See ya later," Raven muttered, quickly ambling up and leaving his homework in the living room as he bolted towards Avi's room, Gezie on his heels. As they reached the mechanic's room, yanking open the door, they were shocked to find that it was surprisingly bare and sparse in decoration. For such a messy and unorganized person, Avi's room was the opposite- clean and bare. The mechanic himself was sitting on his bed, slowly packing up some metal parts in a cardboard box.

"Avi?" Gezie asked, shocked at the stacks of cardboard boxes that were piled by the door. How many tools and parts did the inventor have? "What's going on here?"

The teen let out a short, anxious sigh. "I'm...off the team. Rashid kicked me off because of my injury. I'll probably be back on once I heal," He gave her a slight, reassuring smile, hoping she wouldn't blow up at him. There was no such luck.

" _What?"_ Gezie's jaw dropped open at the news. Did Rashid think she wasn't fit to lead? Did they know about what had happened with the Light of Justice? She had so many questions that needed to be dealt with, and she was going to make sure they were answered. "But we need you! You're our inventor! You make gadgets for us, hack things, get information!"

"I'm sorry, Gez. There's nothing I can do, it's a direct order," Avi shrugged helplessly, grabbing a roll of duct tape and closing up a box, pulling the tape over it. "It's not your fault, Rashid just thought it was best for me. After all, I don't have any superpowers…"

"That's bullshit, Avi. Everyone in this damn room knows you are lying! Rashid never knew about your injury. Genevieve covered for you. She _lied_ for you," Gezie snapped angrily, her blue eyes narrowing in suspicion. Genevieve LaRoux had been covering for the entire team this whole time. Making sure Luthor and Rashid didn't find out about their investigation, or the dealings with the Light of Justice. The teacher was incredibly good at making sure the heroes got away with their missions, and Gezie couldn't fathom what they'd do without her. "So I want you to tell me the truth. How does Rashid know about your injury?"

"Did you tell him to get off the team?" Raven questioned, crossing his arms and leaning against the doorframe.

"No, no! I swear, I had no idea this was going to happen. You guys gotta trust me," The inventor pleaded with them. He racked his brain, trying to figure out if Harvard dropped a clue as to how it happened. Coming to a quick realization, his head snapped up as he met Gezie's enraged gaze, horror and shock written all over his face. "The mole."

"The mole?" Raven echoed, his brows furrowing.

Gezie felt her blood run cold. The mole, of course. They'd been feeding information to Rashid the whole time. If they had told Rashid that much, what else was leaked to Luthor's team?

"Guys...I just realized something," Raven started slowly, his eyes sweeping the group fearfully. "If Rashid knows Avi was injured, and Genevieve lied about it to get him off our backs…"

"Then Rashid knows Genevieve is up to something. He probably knows she's against Luthor. She's...She could be in danger!" Avi finished.

Gezie's hands began to tremble slightly as she tried to wrap her head around the fact that the principal probably knew all of the Alpha Team's secrets. She could feel the anxiety and stress bubble up inside her again, she was becoming a nervous wreck lately and she hated it. She hated how weak she felt nowadays, how much she depended on her team and how much they depended on her. Being a leader in constant life of death situations was truly one of the hardest things she'd done.

"Rashid is playing us all. He's got us cornered and he knows it," Gezie mumbled, her lips trembling as she spoke. "He probably pulled Avi off the team just to show us the power he's got."

"So what do we do?!" Raven exclaimed, a deep and troubled silence followed.

Gezie's usually warm baby blue eyes turned a steely color, and she stormed out of the room.

"Gez? Where are you-"

"Get everyone in the dining room! _Now!"_ She roared.

Avi blinked in shock and confusion, startled by her tone of voice. He had never really seen her this angry or upset before. Had his best friend really changed this much? The teen couldn't help but feel he caused this.

Nodding blindly, Avi Redhawk stumbled out of his bedroom to go find the rest of the team.

 **The Academy, Alpha Dorms**

 **November 5th, 05:30 P.M. EST**

**2021**

Julia's slender, tanned fingers tapped against the smooth wood of the Alpha Team's table impatiently, waiting for the rest of her team to arrive in the kitchen. Raven, Jack, and Avi all sat around the circular table, no one making eye contact. Julia had noticed that over the past few weeks, the tension seemed to be almost tangible. The weight of secrecy and shame hung around all of her teammates, and Julia knew she wasn't clean of that statement either. Sure, maybe she withheld things from the others, but it probably wasn't going to kill them like some of the other secrets the Alpha team held. Probably.

"You look pissed," Jack remarked coolly, holding his face with a straight impassiveness. It was practiced and robotic, almost natural for the teen since he'd worn the expression so much.

"What if I am?" Julia arched a brow, her nail pressing into the wood of the table.

"I don't know why you are. It's just a meeting after all," Avi said hopefully, shrugging and then going back to tinker with a new weapon. His eyebrows furrowed as he delicately attached some wires to it.

"Is it ever just a meeting?" She shot back dryly.

Avi paused. "No, I guess not."

The door to the dorm swung in and Carla, Travis, Roman, and Gezie walked inside, each of them silent. It shocked the members at the table, as the team was rarely ever silent.  
It was at that moment Julia realized something serious was going on. Sure, she knew it was serious before, but now she knew this was an imperative meeting. The other teens took their places around the table, looking to Gezie for answers as to why they were there.

"You're probably wondering what's so important we had to have a meeting about it," Gezie sighed, giving Avi a look at which he looked away from, "Well, to start us off, Avi has announcement to make. Avi, go ahead."

Taking a deep breath, the mechanic looked at his hands as he informed his friends, "I'm off the team because of my injury." He glanced up warily, wincing at the shocked faces of the group. He tried to reassure them, " I'm sure everything will be fine though."

"That's the stupidest shit I've heard," Roman snarled, crossing his arms with his usual ill-tempered frown, "You're hurt, so what? You'll _heal_."

"Exactly, they shouldn't be able to kick you off the team because you're wounded!" Carla agreed, eyebrows furrowing together as the gears in her head began to turn.

Gezie nodded along with them, before piping up, "Yes, that is a concern. A bigger concern is: How did Rashid know that Avi was injured? Ms. LaRoux covered for us, like she always does. She _lied_ to them, so someone else told him."

"Wait, if someone else told him, then... couldn't Genevieve be in _serious_ danger?" Julia asked, frown settling onto his face, "Rashid would know she lied. It's pretty much be treason, right? Because Mr. Luthor kind of _owns_ the school, therefore everyone works under him."

"So, you're telling us because of the _mole_ on the team, Ms. LaRoux could be in _danger_ ," Carla murmured, concern sweeping across her face as she tensed.

Travis' eyes widened, a slight choked gasp making it's way from his throat. A guilty look crossed his features as he look at the floor, whispering to himself, "She could be in _danger_."

Narrowing her eyes, Gezie observed the troubled look on the blind teen's face. "Travis...is there something you'd like to share with us?" The leader asked, crossing her arms as everyone's attention snapped to the medic.

"I-...I did it. _I'm_ the mole," Travis whispered miserably. And suddenly, he was on the floor and gripping his nose, Roman standing over him. Eyes wide, everyone's gaze transferred to the angry teen who'd just punched the medic.

"You _traitor_ ," the red haired teen snarled, "You were selling us out?! What the hell?!"

Shooting up from her seat, chair scraping against the wooden floor, Julia rushed in front of Travis, blocking another punch Roman threw with her forearm. The other teen eyes widened at how quickly she was able to intercept the punch, and how angry she seemed to be. He'd forgotten how amazing of a fighter she was.

"Never kick a man when he's down," Julia hissed to him, eyes glittering in rage. Sure, she was unhappy that Travis had been selling them out, but they couldn't be fighting each other. The team had to stay together, and she knew Roman may take his attack too far if given the chance. The toxin in him was doing some fucked up things.

"He _betrayed_ us. Now Genevieve's life is at stake, Avi is off the team, and Luthor is probably onto everything we've been doing. If he has a reason, it'd have to be a damn good one. Better than the one _Raven_ had," Roman growled to her, awed that she was even protecting this guy. She had been so angry at everything else that had happened, he didn't expect Julia to be the one to protect everyone.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?!" Raven protested, standing next to Jack, "So what if my reasoning wasn't the best? I'm sure Travis here has a good one, okay! So maybe you should back off!"

Avi nodded, looking at Roman with a frown. He knew exactly what it was to keep a secret so heavy. And he also knew that everyone else probably had something they were keeping from the team too, so he voiced his thoughts, "Yeah. I mean, I'm pretty sure we're all keeping at least one thing from the team. We're all harboring secrets, big and small. I think we should just calm down."

Raising a threatening fist, Roman sneered, "Or maybe you should shut up! You three are siding with someone who was selling us out. Who _knows_ what the little shit has been telling Rashid about the team!"

Still, Raven and Julia held their ground in front of a shaking Travis. Roman glared daggers at Avi, who wasn't backing down, while Jack looked like he was about to get up and fight Roman. And so, Gezie knew she had to step in, even if she did want to whine too.

Stepping in between Julia and Roman, she shoved them apart slightly. Scowling, she ordered, "Cool down. We can continue this _later_. We don't need to destroy ourselves from the inside. Remember what we heard about the Omega team? They tore themselves apart because of rumors. Well, we need to stay together if there's any chance at figuring everything out, okay?"

Raven pursued his lips, throwing up his hands in frustration and stomping to his room. Jack shared a heated glare with Roman before breaking the staring contest and shuffling out of the kitchen with Avi following. Julia just plopped back into her seat.

"I need to de-stress," Roman grumbled, stomping out of the kitchen.

"Where are you going?" Carla asked from her seat, staring at him incredulously. She'd stayed silent during the whole incident, watching everything go down in horror. The team was seconds away from civil war.

"To demolish the living room," he growled, as Gezie sighed and sunk down on the chair opposite to Julia.

As Gezie buried her face in her hands with a groan, Julia looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "So, that was...interesting."

"Yeah. We're gonna need to call them back to, well, do _something_ ," Gezie sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose.

"Later, Gez. They all need to cool off. Roman especially," Carla's thoughts trailed back to the other boy and how quickly he reacted to Travis' betrayal. He had been so quick to act, faster than usual. It was peculiar, but Carla's lips were set in a frown when she began to realize that this was probably a result of the toxin integrating with his body. As if things weren't already complicated enough.

 **The Academy, Alpha Dorms**

 **November 5th, 07:00 P.M.**

 **EST** **2021**

"So, are you going to tell them the truth?"

Avi looked up from where he was finishing his last box, seeing Julia standing by the door, her chocolate brown hair pulled up into a messy bun, and obsidian eyes glittering as the last rays of the sun filtered in through his window.

He could hear how cold and dark he tone of voice was, and a chill ran down his spine. "What do you mean-"

"Don't give me bullshit," She interrupted evenly, making Avi gulp anxiously. She wasn't trusting like Gezie, far from it, actually. Julia seemed to want to get straight into the heart of the matter. "Stop dancing around the subject like you do for everything. You don't think I haven't noticed? You have your tells, the ones that give you away. For as smart as you are, you're pretty stupid for trying to lie to my face."

"You're not clean either."

"I know. But we're talking about you here, Avi. Specifically, why did Rashid take you off the team?" Julia began to pace forward slowly, her eyes never leaving him. She was incredibly intimidating when she wanted to be, and it made his stomach flip. Avi tried to recall whether she'd ever been violent in these types of situations like Roman had, but no such instances came to mind. Maybe she wouldn't beat the shit out of him if he confessed, he thought hopefully.

During this moment, Avi also realized that he was tired of lying. The burden was getting hard to carry, and he knew he was already in deep. He might as well come clean so the others could do something about his mistakes.

"You're right," Avi sighed, watching smug satisfaction come on Julia's face as she realized he had given in. The mechanic took a deep breath as he prepared himself for Julia's emotional explosion. "The real reason I'm being pulled from the team is because Luthor wants me to work on the illegal weapons. I'm the guy who designed them...and built them, and I'm almost done." He admitted, his voice barely audible to the girl across the room. He continued hurriedly while there was an awkward silence, "I've been trying to delay the completion with joining the team, and so far it's been working! But I guess Luthor got impatient-"

"Did you know about the mole?" Julia interrupted him flatly, her face stone cold, making Avi lose his confidence for a moment.

"No. I knew there was _a_ mole on the team when Harvard told me, and after that I told Gezie there was one. I didn't know it was Travis. In all honesty? I thought it was Jack," Avi scoffed, shaking his head. "I still don't think the guy is completely on our side-"

"He's not," Julia rolled her eyes, face impassive. "And what is 'our side'? You sure you're on my side? Because you're the one making those dangerous weapons," She reminded him, turning away to exit.

"Wait, where are you going?" Avi asked, eyes wide. Didn't she want to know more?

Julia shrugged, then glanced back at him, "Gezie needs to know. And we have to start making the preparations for the infiltration, you know. You're helping us break into Cadmus." She commanded, turning the corner of the hall and disappearing from sight.

Avi felt his stomach roil at what Julia told him, and knew he was about to severely regret his decision. Would Gezie hate them? Would she completely stop talking to him and quit being his friend? She was one of his best friends, and he didn't want to lose her. Avi wasn't brave enough to screw up what he had with her. Gezie was incredible in his eyes, and he dreaded losing her.

The teen's lips twisted into a frown as he caught himself thinking about his leader. He'd never truly thought about Gezella Leclerc in that way before, and he was intrigued by how foreign it was. Avi couldn't help but wonder, in the back of his mind, if he was actually seeing her as more than a friend.

"I need to figure my life out…" He mumbled to himself, before rushing out of his room to try and stop Julia.

* * *

 **AN:**

 **Woooooow. That took forever. A solid month and a half. Well, we did have a good reason as finals and schoolwork severely caught up with us, and we were not able to get the time or energy to really work on this. Hope you guys understand, but school comes first here.**

 **Anyways, let's recap, shall we?**

 **So, this chapter focused on the changes in the team's dynamic, and centered on someone we haven't been seeing much of lately: Avi. He's recovered from almost dying earlier in the season, and Rashid takes notice of this, having Harvard pull him off the team. This gave a little more character development to Harvard, and we'll get to see more of him during Season 3. Another big thing that happened this chapter is that Lediv officially joined the Alpha team. Oh boy. We're not saying anything yet… but this may cause some trouble.**

 **It also seems that the team has discovered that the mole has been more active than they thought, telling Rashid everything that's been going on. This subsequently puts Genevieve in danger, as now the Academy knows she's against them. Will our lovely medic be taken out by assassins, Harvard, or someone we have yet to see? Stay tuned to find out.**

 **Gezie calls an emergency meeting to damage control this, and it turns out Travis is the mole! This leads to Roman, spurred by the toxin effects on his personality, attacking Travis and Julia defending him! Will there be animosity between Julia and Roman, damaging their friendship? Who knows? Well, we know, but you guys don't.**

 **Julia, on a hunch then decides to force Avi to reveal the real reason he's been kicked off. And he does, leaving Julia to break the news.**

 **So, this chapter was full of D-R-A-M-A. Tell us if you enjoyed it or not!**

 **Other stuffs, it's been decided that we're only going to have 3 seasons of this story, and we are going to try and wrap it up by the end of this year! We are going to make this story around thirty episodes, so we're more than halfway done with it! Buckle up, because from here on out, it's going to be super climactic. We already have the basic premise for the last season thought out, and we are working on outlining it. So far, it's fucking great.**

 **That's all for today, kids! Tell us what you think, and hopefully we can get this next update out sooner!**

 _~The Fangirls_

 **Questions:**

 **1\. What do you think the team dynamic will be from here on out?**

 **2\. What do you think of the three seasons decision?**

 **3\. Any predictions for the last season?**


	19. S2, Episode 9: Vissictude

**.**

 **How Far We've Fallen**

 **.x.x.x.x.x.**

 **Season 2, Episode 9**

 _~The YoungJusticeFangirls~_

 **The Academy, Alpha Dorms**

 **November 5th, 09:00 P.M. EST**

 **2021**

Hand rapping lightly against the wooden door, Ana knew what she was about to do was a bad idea. After all, things were already bad, and now, they had just gotten a whole lot worse. The teen ran a hand through her sandy blonde hair as she waited, her stomach knotting. Ana wasn't a nervous person by any means, but this just made her a wreck. Hopefully this wouldn't end _too_ awfully-

"Hello?" Gezie mumbled groggily, rubbing her light blue eyes as she tried to see who was knocking on her bedroom door. Finally, the adjusted, and she cracked an apologetic smile. "Sorry, I was taking a nap. It's been a… hectic day over here at the Alpha Dorm."

Ana shifted uncomfortably, feeling guilty she woke the stressed leader. "Yeah… I heard about it. Lediv moved over here, Avi got demoted, and-"

"Travis was the mole," Gezie swallowed, her voice cracking as she gripped the door frame to steady herself. It all seemed surreal to the girl, that the sweetest, gentlest guy on the team was selling them out to the guy they'd been fighting the whole time.

"Yeah. That too," Ana glanced at her worriedly. She'd seen Gezie despondent before, but it wasn't like this. Before, it was the desperate kind of sadness, the unwillingness to believe that anything would go wrong. Now, it was just...hopeless. Like she was ready to give up the fight she'd been pushing for months. "Gez. We need to talk." Finally, Ana broke the miserable silence.

"What? Are you here to tell me that you're betraying me too? Ana, you're one of my best friends. I-I… I couldn't…" Her breathing spiked, and her eyes flicked around anxiously, like someone was hiding around every corner, ready to attack.

"Easy, easy! You gotta calm down. I'm not… I'd never betray you," Ana said firmly, correcting herself as she grabbed the leader's hands, squeezing them in comfort. Gezie couldn't be having a panic attack, but this was important.

"C-Can we go inside? I'm cold." She stammered suddenly, rubbing her arm. That was when Ana noticed the scratches.

"When'd you get those?" The journalist asked cautiously, leading Gezie to her bed. Upon sitting down, the blonde wrapped herself up in a cozy afghan, taking a moment to steady her breathing.

"Oh, they just… happen. I guess. No big deal," Gezie mumbled, playing with a fraying thread on the blanket. Her blue eyes met Ana's soon after. "What did you want to talk about again?"

Ana was growing more and more concerned by the minute, seeing those scratches. She didn't know if Gezie had a medical condition, or if she was self harming, even. But everything about this conversation was bugging her, and she knew she couldn't break the news. "I'm sorry, Gez. I don't think it's the best idea to talk about it right now." Ana began to get up from the bed, but Gezie grabbed her wrist, eyes wide and pleading.

"Ana, please. I can't take the secrets anymore. Everyone I know has secrets, even you. Please, please don't keep anything from me…" The girl blurted out, frustration evident in her voice.

She hesitated, debating on whether she should really break the news. But Gezie was on the verge of the breakdown either way, so Ana knew this probably would make much difference. "Okay. Promise me, you'll try to stay calm?" She said evenly. Gezie nodded her head, taking a deep breath for extra measure. "Kian's missing."

The words hit the leader like a truck.

"What?" Gezie looked up at her friend with wide, fearful eyes. How could he be missing? Was it by his own volition… or someone else?

"He… we haven't seen him in days," Ana murmured, concern leaking into her own voice. "I-I have my own theories about what happened-"

"Then what happened?!"

"Calm down!" Ana demanded, trying to keep her away from the edge of a breakdown. "He was investigating Lediv, last I noticed. He thought something was up with the kid… I-I think-"

"You think Lediv had something to do with his disappearance," Gezie finished.

Ana shook her head vehemently, "Not just Lediv. The entire school. Do you know what happened today? Harvard came into our dorm and told us Kian had left the school, then officials came in and collected his belongings. _For him."_ Ana gritted her teeth.

"So… You think," Gezie failed to find the words she was looking for, but saw the answer on her face. "Y-You think they killed him." Her voice cracked. "They're going to come after all of us, a-aren't they? Because we're already to deep?"

Ana flinched as Gezie's voice rose. What other reaction should she have been expecting, the journalist mentally chided herself.

"Calm down-"

"I cannot stay calm!" The girl screamed, startling Ana. She took a moment to gather her thoughts, her shoulders shaking from tearless sobs. "I've tried so, so hard to keep everyone alive, Ana. Carla is still poisoned, Roman's not the same after that toxin, Kian is probably dead, and we're running out of time to save everyone from Luthor's weapons. And the truth of it is that my team backstabs and betrays me when I've done so much to try and keep them _safe,_ " Gezie hissed vehemently, tears beginning to stream down her cheeks.

At the door, Avi Redhawk poked his head in, utterly in shock at what he just heard. Ana spotted him behind Gezie, and jerked her head, trying to shoo him away. Avi's appearance, especially after Julia told her about his betrayal, would only hurt her even more.

"Gezie," Avi whispered, startling the teen. Immediately, she was silent, a desolate look in her eyes. "You have to calm down. Everything...will be okay." He tried to soothe her, despite Ana's silent protests. "I-I think...you should take a little bit of time off this stuff."

"What?" Gezie's eyes were as wide as saucers, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Wh-What do you mean?"

"I don't think you should go on the mission."

It was like all the air was sucked out of the room after that. Gezie stayed silent, mulling over the suggestion. Avi, like most times, was probably right. She was a liability, someone who could put lives in jeopardy if she were to lose her cool.

"I-I think so too. I need to sit this one out. I don't feel well," She croaked weakly, lowering her head in shame.

"Gez, it's nothing to be ashamed of. You just forget to take care of yourself since you're so busy taking care of us, that's all," Avi soothed her. "We can go out to dinner or watch a movie, normal people things. It'll get your mind off stuff."

Gezie paused. "I think I'd like that...and I am a little hungry. I haven't eaten all day."

"See? You gotta take care of yourself. Mental health is just as important as physical health. Now, take your time and get ready. We can leave whenever you want to," Avi stood up, and tugged on Ana's sleeve.

The journalist understood it was time to leave Gezie alone, let her recover from this hellish day. "I'll see you later, Gez. I'm going to get some work done," She said softly as Avi led her out of the room.

As soon as they exited, softly shutting the leader's door, And turned to Avi, her expression rather melancholy. "You...did well, Redhawk. Keep helping her, okay? She needs all the support she can get."

And with that, the girl turned away, her gut roiling from the emotional talk she just had with her best friend. As she left the Alpha Dorm, a few tears escaped, streaming down her cheeks.

 **Metropolis**

 **November 6th, 12:00 A.M. EST**

 **2021  
** As Raven Arisato adjusted his cloak, making sure the hood wouldn't flop into his eyes while he was fighting, he couldn't help but feel very uneasy about this mission. Leaving Gezie behind had set the rest of the team on edge, especially after hearing how she had broken down with Ana. It was so unlike her to break down, but at the same time, unsurprising. Gezie had enormous amounts of pressure put on her since day one, and it wasn't shocking to see her buckle under the weight now.

The other thing that set him on edge, was the fact that Lediv and Travis had come along as well. Travis was currently standing awkwardly on the street, keeping his eyes down as he tried to stay separate from the rest of the group. Lediv was casually leaning against a light pole, staring off into space. He looked so out of place with the Alpha Team, that is was actually rather startling for Raven. The boy had overheard about the infiltration plans, and demanded that he come along to help and adjust with the new team. At first, the others were rather put off by the idea of an outsider coming along, but Jack, who had taken up the mantle of leader since Gezie was out of commission, knew it was a good idea to keep their enemies close. At least they could keep watch on Lediv here. And besides, Raven comforted himself, the kid was so lazy and incompetent. What could he really do?

Raven's eyes flicked around the group, to see if anyone else shared his unease, but there was no sign of emotion from everyone. Just awkward silence.

"Why are you coming with us again, Lediv?" Julia asked sharply, breaking the silence as the teens waited on the streets. Everyone's eyes shifted to the lazy newcomer.

"I figured you all can use my help. And I wanted to prove that I can help you guys. Everyone in the Academy already looks up to you for the work you've done for Metropolis. I want to show that I can be with the great Alpha Team-ers." Lediv explained rather casually.

Julia let out a quiet snort of disbelief.

"What? You don't think I can do it?" Lediv's face mirrored one of hurt.

"Well, from what I've heard from Ana, I don't think you can do it." She shrugged offhandedly.

Raising an eyebrow, with a slight frown Lediv asked, "Oh? And what have you heard from Ana to make you think I'm not able to be with the Alpha Team?"

"I think you know exactly what," Julia shrugged, tucking a stray hair back behind her ear.

Lediv opened his mouth, but was cut off by Jack telling them, "Cut it out. We need to focus on the mission, got it? No matter what you've hear or we've heard from Ana, Lediv is a part of the team now. We have more important things to worry about anyways."

"Jack's right, you guys," Carla agreed, speaking up from her spot by the light pole. "We'll fail if our team is divided-" The girl was suddenly cut off by a fit of violent coughing, covering her mouth with her sleeve.

Jack's eyebrows furrowed deeply, "You okay?"

Carla shook her head, unable to respond because of the coughing, and held up a finger. Finally, after a few more moments, she was able to gather her bearings together. "I-I'm okay. I just got this nasty cough today. Think I have the flu or something.

A silence enveloped the group as the druidess revealed her sudden onset of sickness. They knew what it meant, even if it was unsaid.

"The toxin," Roman chuckled darkly, setting his jaw. Carla's eyes flicked down in acceptance. She already knew.

"We're running out of time. Travis, how's the antidote coming along?" Jack shifted his impassive expression towards the silent medic.

"I-It's coming, but… I don't know how much time she has left. We've solved a g-good half of the chemical composition, but Genevieve's worried we might not find the other pieces in time," Travis stuttered out, shying away from the group's frustrated gaze.

Angry murmuring rose up from the teens, and Travis sensed fear and trepidation in regards to Carla's fate. Her survival was uncertain at this point, and by the looks of it, no one's survival was guaranteed any more.

"We have to focus on the mission. We can worry about the antidote when we get back to the dorm, alright? If we get distracted, it's game over. Just...focus on destroying the weapons," Carla urged them, but shared a worried look with Jack. His baby blue eyes seemed to soften in worry for her, breaking his stoic and apathetic image. It was refreshing after seeing him stone cold for so long, and a tiny smile tugged at her lips.

"Sounds like you guys have a lot going on," Lediv remarked casually, arching a brow.

Roman's expression instantly darkened. "You don't know half the shit that's gone on-"

Julia punched his arm, grabbing his attention for a split second. Her obsidian eyes bore into his pale red ones, the message she displayed was clear: don't push it. She knew they couldn't have any infighting right now, and Roman's personality shift would be the catalyst if he wasn't careful.

"Guys," Travis interrupted, earning a harsh glare from both teens. "Chip's here."

Almost immediately, a few figures emerged into the pale glow of the streetlight, walking casually down the street. Chip, flanked by a few LoJ soldiers. He looked surprisingly casual and out of place among the teens; calm and collected, the man was dressed in a dark grey hoodie, black joggers, and white sneakers. His dark brown eyes seemed to hold a sparkle of excitement for the task ahead of them.

"So, this is our team, huh? You look to be missing a few," Chip chuckled dryly, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"They're here. Just not with us at the moment," Julia responded before Jack could answer for the group. She knew they couldn't let him know they were down in numbers, otherwise he would think he could pull something on the team. Best to keep up the act they were at the top of their game, right?

"Wonderful. I'd love to socialize more with you kids, hold hands and sing _Kumbaya_ at the fact that we enemies are working together, but we've got weapons to destroy and a dictator to bring down." Chip smirked at them. "Back to business, what's the game plan?"

"Back at the Academy, we have an...associate who's going to hack into Cadmus' system and the security cameras, pull footage from yesterday night at this same time, and replace the video feed." Jack began, remembering how little convincing it took to pull Ana into this. With the latest developments at the Academy, she knew she was vital to this mission. "We'll have about thirty minutes to complete this mission once that happens."

"Then, our associate is going to take out the lights in a room on the floor we need to be on. With the lights out, Raven will be able to teleport us into the building by traveling through the shadows. We infiltrate, they won't see us enter." Julia continued. Chip nodded in response.

"The rest of the plan will be carried out by the Alpha Team. You'll only be deleting weapons files, got it?" Jack asked, and Chip nodded silently. "We have one condition though, if you wish to go through with it."

The other teammates perked up, exchanging confused glances. Condition? When did they discuss a condition? This certainly wasn't in the plan.

"We want the antidote. To the toxin you gave Roman and Carla. We're not assassinating Luthor, but we _will_ go against him and destroy those weapons," Jack said firmly, his blue eyes turning a silver steel in defiance.

Chip arched a brow; these kids were certainly feeling bold tonight. They were almost daring him to snap back, but he maintained his cool. "Fine. I'll make the call," He nodded, pulling a flip phone from his pocket and stepping back from the group to make a call.

"Oh, and Chip?" Julia shouted back towards the man, making him pause in anticipation of her order. "Lose the bodyguards. We don't need dead weight."

The man scowled, but jerked his head towards his men, making them disperse as he walked away from the group. A smug smile slipped onto Julia's face, as she shared a smirk with Jack. The team totally had this under control…right?

 **Cadmus Labs**

 **November 6th, 02:00 A.M. EST**

 **2021**

Roman grunted as he suddenly popped into a room, landing on the cold tile floor of Cadmus Labs with a soft groan. God, he hated Raven's teleportation, preferring flying to that nausea inducing stuff. The teen cracked open his bleary red eyes to see the other half of his team pop into the room, also hitting the cold floor as well.

Raven sat on the ground, his black, messy hair matted to his forehead as he panted from the energy it took to get him there. Sure, he'd made some big jumps, but he'd never transported that many people over that big a distance. Still, the teen noticed he was improving since he'd first gotten to Luthor's Academy. At least he could look at the positives, Raven cracked a smile to himself.

"You good?" Jack asked Carla, who was currently looking a little green from the quick travel.

"Yeah, I'm fine," She lied, trying not to throw up on him.

"You don't look fine," Jack arched a brow, calling her bluff.

"Then stop looking!" Carla clambered to her feet, swaying a bit. "We have to go. Thirty minutes, remember? Ana can only keep the cameras busy for so long."

"So _Ana's_ your mysterious associate hacking into this place," Lediv piped up from where he was dusting himself off. Carla simply rolled her eyes at this, pulling her light brown curls into a ponytail, and straightening her trinity necklace.

"Travis. Phase one. Do you sense anyone who might be a captive here? Based on feelings, of course." Jack asked quickly, raising a finger to his lips to motion the other teammates to be quiet as they gathered their bearings. They couldn't afford to get caught by the security now, even if they were safe in a laboratory Ana cleared out from behind her computer screen.

Travis squeezed his pale lavender eyes shut, trying to get a read on who might be around him. He pushed past the people sitting right next to him, feeling around the building with his empathy, using that to "see" in a way. His lips parted in confusion as he felt something a few halls down. "A-A couple halls down… there's someone. They feel bored. T-Tired. Angry. And they're not moving either. I think they might be captives." He opened his eyes again, trying to explain what his powers led him to. "I felt some security personnel a ways down too. They're bored, but a different kind then the people I just felt. Calm. Not so angry."

Jack's eyes narrowed as he tried to decide what to do, letting out a hum from the thought. "Alright Julia, Travis, Roman, you three go after the person Travis just sensed. Report back here, _immediately,_ understand? And do not do anything stupid." Jack's gaze flicked to the indignant Roman, who looked like he wanted to protest against the surrogate leader's choice. But even he knew that in order to survive tonight, he'd have to trust Jack. And that meant leaving his comfort zone and putting the team ahead of his interests. He grumbled an agreement, then stalked towards the door of the lab they were in, waiting for the others.

Julia watched this, letting out a frustrated sigh. She didn't even feel like she knew Roman anymore, he was too… cold. Unsociable. Distant. Maybe even unstable, judging by how quickly he had attacked Travis yesterday.

"Travis, lead the way," She jerked her head to the door, tightening her brown hair into a ponytail. The medic nervously stood up, a bit put off by Roman's cold attitude, then began to lead the group out the door.

Jack nodded approvingly at their quick start, then turned to the others. "We'll have to adjust from here. Raven and Carla, your job is to follow the map of this building that Ana and I were able to get, and find those completed weapons for Queen Bee in the storage room. Stealth is key here, we don't want a fire fight going on when our objective is the weapons. Carla, if you have to…"

"I know, I know. Shadow travel," She grumbled. "I can do it." The druidess motioned for Raven, pulling out a map of the building on her phone. "It's just down the hall, Raven. Think you can travel us over to a shadow nearby? We can enter from there."

"I'm on it," The other teen grinned, seemingly recovered from his big trip, then grabbed Carla's hand. With a deep breathe, the pair seemed to be sucked into the shadows, and suddenly, they were gone.

"Which leaves it up to us to hack into the systems and wipe the files of the weapons. We should be able to do it from the computer in this lab, and with my access codes, it should be easy. Ana gave me a program to install onto the computer when we're done-" Jack held up a black flash drive. "It'll wipe any trace of my being there."

"So Luthor won't know that _you_ were the one to destroy the weapons schematics. Smart," Lediv finished for the other boy. Jack could have sworn his eyes flashed gold for a moment, the slightest shimmer of color. He couldn't find any explanation for it, and desired to question the boy on it when they were out of danger.

"There's our plan. Let's get to it," Chip Canly finally spoke after watching the team go to work, a slow smile on his face. This was the day Luthor would finally be served some justice, from a bunch of teens, no less. It might not have been ideal, but it would certainly work. For now.

 **Cadmus Labs**

 **November 6th, 02:10 A.M. EST**

 **2021**

"Security up ahead! T-Two of them!" Travis hissed to Julia and Roman as they race through the halls. Julia gave Roman a sideways glance, jerking her head to the left. A clear indication for him to take the soldier on that side. As soon as they turned the corner and met up with the targets, Roman sprinted towards his man, then slammed his firearm into his chest, effectively knocking the wind out of his chest. The teen then picked him up by the collar, throwing him into Julia's target, both of them slamming into the wall from the force of the throw.

"Hey!" Julia protested, placing her hands on her hips.

Roman simply shrugged. "Guess I'm just faster."

She rolled her eyes in response, then turned to Travis. "How much farther?"

"We're a-almost there," He nodded his head, then began to lead the group, walking through the halls.

At first, Julia wanted to keep it silent. She didn't have much to say, save for calling Roman an asshole, but that wasn't really unusual. Though, as they walked, a question began to burn inside her.

"Why'd you do it?" She asked softly, Roman and Travis both furrowing their eyebrows at the Hispanic girl. "Why did you betray us?"

"J-Julia, we don't have time for this-"

"No. I wanna know," She spat, her dark eyes hardening like stone. One second, she could be friendly and welcoming like she was to her friends; the next, she was as cold as stone. Julia Rothschild truly was unpredictable, Travis realized.

Roman scoffed at her, "Why do you have to know-"

"Because I'm curious, okay asshat?" The teen snapped back at him. She was astounded by how he had changed, how he had fallen from the competitive, strong guy she had somewhat developed feelings for. Now Julia had to keep reminding herself that it was just the toxin talking. But would he ever be the same?

The unspoken question disrupted her thoughts, making her go quiet.

"I-I…" Travis' voice trembled a bit, running a hand through his red hair. "Y-You guys have to understand this wasn't my choice. N-None of us who are affiliated with Luthor have a choice. Avi, Jack, even Elle...we didn't choose to get wrapped up in this."

"If you're trying to blame this on destiny, you'll need a better excuse. I don't buy into that shit," Roman said pointedly, noticing Julia's rather indignant response with a frown. She was probably just moody, right? Girls were like that.

"L-Let me explain. Cat and I...we're orphans. My mother is dead, she died long ago in the army. My father h-he...he…" Travis began to choke up, his lavender eyes brimming with tears.

Julia reached out a hand, her demeanor steadily softening as she listened, putting a hand on his shoulder.

The medic took a breathe, and managed to continue, "My father worked for Lex, and after that, the man demanded I take his place. Repay some debt my dad owed. I didn't have a choice. Luthor offered to fund our schooling, give us a roof and food to eat. He became our guardian."

Julia finally began to piece it together, "And so, when you were placed on the Alpha Team…"

"He told me to," Travis sobbed, angrily scrubbing at the tears that streamed down his pale cheeks. "And then, when I tried to stop, he threatened Cat. I-I couldn't-"

"He's a psycho," Roman suddenly murmured, a muscle ticking in his cheek. "I want to be the one to kill him."

"Roman," Julia warned quickly. She was appalled that Roman even wanted that dirty blood on his hands, he'd been so against assassinating Luthor before. Now it seemed Chip didn't even have to threaten him with Carla's life.

"No! No killing!" Travis hissed at Roman, startling the other boy as he sobbed violently. "He may have done awful things, but we don't get to decide who lives or dies! That's not in our power!"

"Then what do you say we do, huh? Just send him to prison? He _controls_ the prisons, idiot! He'll be out in thirty days!" Roman threw his hands up, then jabbed a finger into Travis' chest. "We _have_ to kill him."

" _Roman!"_

Julia's voice echoed through the hall as she pointed at a cell, with glass holding the front. One person sat inside, staring at them with his jaw hanging open. A man, with a long, scruffy beard and ink black hair, narrowed his crystal blue eyes in distrust. He was certainly handsome, albeit unkempt, but Julia found his good looking features somewhat familiar.

"H-Hi," Travis waved his hand at the man, gulping as they stared at the group.

"What's this about killing Luthor I hear?" The dark haired man smirked.

"We're not...No. We're not assassins. We're just here to free you," Julia said firmly, shutting down the idea of killing Luthor.

The man pursed his lips, stretching out leisurely on the cot as he pondered this. "Who sent you? The League?" He let out a dark, dry chuckle, making it seem like he wasn't too friendly with the League.

"The League? Is that who you were with?" Roman arched a questioning brow. "We sent ourselves after those damned weapons Luthor made."

"You can...say I was with the League," He mumbled as an answer, but didn't elaborate on what he meant. "I don't think you guys really have much time, so I wouldn't waste it talking to me."

Roman narrowed his eyes, knowing he would probably question this man later. He was right though, they were running out of time, and that sappy, emotional moment with Travis certainly didn't help.

"Get to the back of the room, and cover your head," Roman commanded, marching over to simply blow up the cell.

"Wait, Roman, you can't just-" Julia grabbed his hand, hoping to pull him back to her side, but instead, she screamed in agony, her face contorting as she promptly released her hold. "Damn it! What the hell was that?!"

Roman stared in shock as Travis rushed over to the other girl, grabbing her and. "I-It looks like an acid burn of some sort." He summoned some energy, quickly beginning to heal the wound, making the trembling Julia sigh in relief. Though, after a moment of healing her, the medic's head snapped up, eyes wide in surprise."R-Roman? Last we checked, your nitroglycerin doesn't burn...This is entirely something else. An acidic substance, for sure, dangerous when contact with other things is made."

"I-I don't...Wait. The toxin," Roman's face turned sheet white as he finally pieced it together. "It's just like what happened the first time, with the explosion…" He trailed off, a glazed look in his eyes as he stared at his hands, trying to see if there was anything unusual about them. "Hold on. I want to test something," He declared, and hurried over to the cell. Placing his hands on the glance, he was astounded to see steam begin to waft off the material, the glass burning under is touch. Soon, it turned a molten red, melting around the contact and leaving a handprint shaped hole.

The man stared at Roman's hands in disbelief, and moved back when the teen began to try and widen the hole with his touch, pressing his hands against the glass more.

"There!" Roman said smugly, stepping back with his hands up as the captive man climbed out, so he wouldn't accidentally hurt anyone like he did with Julia. Remembering his female teammate, he turned to her and nodded, "I'm sorry about that. I didn't know-"

"I-It's okay. I didn't know either. The toxin… it's a bump in the road, we'll figure it out, right?" Julia gave him a hopeful smile, still internally shaken by what she just witnessed. God, what if he could never control that...acid manifestation? Acidic touch? She didn't know what to call it anymore. All Julia knew was that Roman was becoming much more isolated physically, and emotionally from the team. It was almost like he was an entirely different person. Not the guy she developed feelings for all those weeks ago.

"J-Julia, we have to go. Jack said get back to the group immediately," Travis reminded her gently, noticing the worried look on her face. Julia nodded numbly, and took off down the hall jogging, with her group, and the mysterious man following closely behind.

 **Cadmus Labs**

 **November 6th, 02:25 A.M. EST**

 **2021**

As they stepped out of the shadows, Carla put a hand to her mouth and another to her stomach, bending over slightly she felt Raven's eyes on her.

"Hey, you gonna be okay?" The silver eyed teen asked, concern clear in his voice as he hesitantly put a hand on her back.

Waving him off, Carla straightened as she assured, "Yeah. I'm fine."

She looked worse for wear though as there was a sheen of sweat and a green tint to her face, though she persisted. With a worried look, Raven nodded, not believing the lie at all, but it was okay. They were going to get the antidote as soon as they finished the mission. So that's what they had to do, finish it.

"Come on. Just a few more minutes…"Raven trailed off, looping her arm around him to support her, just in case she began to lose consciousness. The last thing he needed was her collapsing and giving herself a concussion.

The pair walked back into the laboratory where they first arrived to find Roman, Julia, and Travis back already, but this time, with a new visitor. Jack, Lediv, and Chip hovered over a rather large computer screen, Jack's face contorted in frustration.

"Yes, Ana. I realize you can only keep the security cameras down for so long, you don't have to keep reminding me," The boy huffed into an earpiece, rolling his eyes. Ana was beginning to get antsy. He knew they'd have to speed it up. Hearing the others enter, Jack straightened up immediately. "Did you find the weapons? And...is Carla okay?"

Raven shook his head, "No to both of your questions. We infiltrated the weapons room, but found no security and the weapons were gone. And Carla's getting hit hard by this toxin. We need to hurry."

"Ana's been yelling at Jack to hurry this entire time. We know that," Lediv chuckled casually, earning a few glares from the rest of the group. He'd remained relatively silent throughout the mission, as the boy knew the rest of the team didn't really take a...liking to him yet. Lediv just couldn't pass up the opportunity to make that quip.

"Lediv, remind me, what have you done to help us?" Julia questioned from across the room, where she was talking to the man she freed with Roman.

"Good question, firecracker," The boy winked to her, making Roman scowl. "I've been doing some searching through Cadmus' databases, and with Chips, I must say, excellent hacking skills, we found some things… you might find useful."

"Well, that's convenient, Lediv," Julia arched a brow, brushing a strand of her hair from her face. "And for the record, call me 'Firecracker' again, and fire will be the last thing you see."

Lediv put both palms up, a peace offering to the girl as she, and Jack, hurried over. "See this? It's a message from one of Luthor's secretaries to the head of security in the building," A grin began to spread on the boy's face as he pointed to a line of text in the message. "Right there it says that the weapons were shipped recently. Like, a few hours recently."

"They anticipated us," Julia's lips twisted into a scowl. "We have to move. Catch that transport ship. Got anything here fast enough to catch a plane?" She turned to Jack.

"Wait, we're catching a plane?"

Chip chewed his bottom lip thoughtfully, "This is Cadmus, of course they'll have something fast enough. And the model they're using, according to the message, to transport it is a rather old one too. We can just steal an older plane, and boom. Mission isn't so impossible anymore."

"So, we're stealing a jet and hijacking the transport now?" Raven's eyes widened in confusion, before a smile broke out on his face. "I'm in!"

"Jack… are we?"

The temporary leader's face was impassive as he considered both sides of the coin, glancing back at Carla worriedly. She was in no shape to fight, as just teleporting made her sick to her stomach. He hated to admit it, but Carla O'Connell was now a liability.

"We are. You're not," He decided firmly, ignoring the look of shock that crossed her face and her incoherent protest. "Raven, I know you're tired, but I need you to transport her close to the Academy. If you feel like you're out of juice, then you can stay behind-"

"I-I can lend him my bioenergy," Travis spoke up, shuffling towards the others, his pale, unblinking eyes sweeping the group. "Raven's a good fighter, a-and we may need him if things get tricky. That teleporting is u-useful."

"He's got a point," Raven agreed, waiting for Jack's approval. The teen nodded, mildly impressed with how well they were adapting and solving each problem that came their way. "Alright! Carla, let's go!" The silver eyed student crowed, as Travis grabbed his hand. He felt a tingle stretch through his skin, and through his veins. He'd been healed by Travis plenty, but this was different. He felt...reborn, so to speak, and it was a strange feeling. Like he just hibernated for a week, and now he was ready to run a marathon. "Holy shit," Raven gasped, his hands trembling from the sheer amount of energy he no possessed. He turned to Travis, eyes as wide as saucers, "You, my good sir, are a freaky, freaky person."

"Stay safe, Arsenault," Carla gave her leader a weak smile, before bursting out into a fit of coughs. "I'll still be cheering from the bench."

Jack paused a moment, at a loss for what to say. No one really ever told him to stay safe, since they figured he'd be the last to die on the battlefield. He was pretty unstoppable, but Carla's words weren't unwelcomed. Finally, he cracked a smile, very unlike the apathetic and traumatized teen. "Thanks, Morrigan." He said, finally calling her by her code name.

A giant grin broke out on Carla's face right before she disappeared with Raven.

"If you're done flirting, mighty leader, can we get back to doing what we do best? Kicking ass and being awesome?" Roman deadpanned, rolling his eyes at the tender moment his teammates shared.

"The team is only awesome if you're not included," Julia muttered under her breath. She just couldn't help herself, and earned a little snicker from Travis. She didn't feel bad either, Roman was being an asshole lately.

Jack flushed a deep crimson, "I wasn't flirting, I was thanking Carla. And besides, we've had to put up with you attempting to get in Julia's pants all year-"

"Can we not do this when Luthor's nuclear weapons are on their way to Bialya?" Chip interrupted.

Jack stopped himself from continuing his sentence, remembering Lediv, Chip, and the mysterious prisoner were all still in the room with them. It was so much harder to be comfortable with outsiders, he scoffed to himself.

"Let's get going," He commanded the group, downloading the coordinates of where the weapons were headed. "Chip, Julia, and Roman, clear us a path to that vehicles hanger. The rest of us will be right behind you."

Roman nodded silently, as Chip and Julia followed him towards the door of the lab.

"And for the record, Jack, Roman was succeeding in that area until he became a little pissant-"

"Roman immediately froze, turning back to Julia, "Whoa, wait, I was actually doing well?"

"Did you not pick up the fact that I was flirting back?" Julia retorted as they left the room.

"Guys!" The dark haired man caught up with them, glaring at the teens. "Enough already. Leave the personal stuff at the door. You gotta stay traught, y'know?" A slow smile settled on his face.

"What's your name again?" Chip called to him.

A pause settled between the group.

"Just...call me Robin."

 **Metropolis, Lex Corp**

 **November 6th, 12:00 A.M. EST**

 **2021**

It was truly a shame, Lex Luthor thought to himself as he lounged in his office, sitting in his quilted leather chair. It was truly a shame that the expensive glass of scotch was going to go to waste. Lex simply didn't have the stomach for it at the moment. A disappointing fact, but a fact nonetheless.

It took quite a bit for his favorite brand of scotch to lose its appeal, even for a split second. But this drink, with condensation running down the sides, was about to go to waste due to what was going on with his Academy.

Luthor hadn't anticipated that the Alpha Team, supposed to be directly working for him, was now openly defying him and working with the rebels he'd spent months trying to destroy. He hadn't seen Genevieve's betrayal coming either. It shocked him, but...strangely, he was proud. They were strong, gutsy, brave. He had picked well.

But now, lessons had to be taught. He had to break them, make them understand defying the government wasn't an option anymore. And he knew just how to do it.

Luthor waved his hand over a screen on his desk, and pressed a few buttons on a keypad beside it. After waiting a moment, a hologram lit up his office.

"Yes?" A honeyed voice purred from the receiver, and a figure of a woman appeared before him. Even as a hologram, she was absolutely stunning. Copper skin, jet black hair, a full hourglass figure; Queen Bee was truly a sight to behold. Luthor knew how to pick his people, the man thought to himself as his lip curled upwards.

"Hello, Bee."

"Lex!" She laughed happily, a sly smile lighting up her face. "I'd assume this was...pleasantries, but it's rather late. And you always have your reasons."

"I wish I could call for pleasantries, but you know I've been stretched thin ever since I opened that Academy. It's been incident after incident, Bee." Lex sighed, kicking his feet up onto his desk. "I have news of the weapons."

"Oh?"

"The first batch was just recently finished a week ago. Not all the weapons are made, but you'd get a good portion for your...ambitions. I am anticipating an attack on them soon, and I fear for their safety. Would you like me to send them over? I can have it done within the hour." He offered, arching a brow towards the hologram.

"Oh, Lex, how thoughtful of you!" Her voice turned sugar sweet, but hard as ice the next moment. "Yes. But I want the rest when you can assure me a ragtag group of superhero-wannabes won't destroy them!" Queen Bee snapped, obviously referencing the Light of Justice.

"They are of no problem, I assure you. You will have your weapons at the end of the month for your conquests, whatever that may be. "Lex paused. "What do you plan on taking first, again? It slips my mind."

"I have quite a few things on the agenda. Asia will be mine within the next year, if you deliver the weapons as promised." Queen Bee gloated. "But what about you Luthor? Those students at your school, the insubordinates...you're going to lose control of your little country. It'd be a shame if America was toppled by that scum."

"Oh my, is that doubt I hear?" Luthor chuckled, shaking his head, "Don't worry about me. I have other... _acquaintances_ that can help me regain control for a pretty penny and a little more power."

"I have no worry for you," Queen Bee scoffed before raising an eyebrow at Luthor's solution, "You mean that little mafia boy? He's nothing but a _child_ compared to us."

"True, but you underestimate Mr. Coal. That is comparing to us, but compared to most others he is...not too bad. Plus, he is certainly determined...and very smart. Of course, he's still a pawn."

"And what of me? Compared to that bug, what am I?"

"You...are a Queen. Now, I must get those weapons delivered, as you've requested. Until next time." Lex said, then swiftly hung up the call, basking in the glorious silence that followed. He loved it when a plan came together, and fortune changed in his favor.

And then, with a change of heart, Lex lifted the scotch glass from the desk and took a sip, relishing the cold liquid.

 **AN:**

 **Well, there it is! Took us a month to make, but it's here! The thing that's gonna launch us into our finale! Some big stuff happened in this Episode, some very important developments, and we seriously hope you all enjoyed this. This chapter had something for everyone's characters! Every Alpha Teamer had a development in character or something else, and we hope you take the time to appreciate how hard that is to do! Because believe us, if you wrote for this story, it's hard as shit.**

 **We'd absolutely like to thank GX Prodigy, who's become an unofficial Fangirl for his help and encouragement for plotting and planning season 3. Tons of love and thanks to you, buddy for all your help on the Docs!**

 **We'd also like to take the time and tell you we have a new poll on our profile! Would you like to see a Forum for this story, where the readers and writers can simply talk? We've met so many amazing people through writing this story, it could simply be a place where we can talk share art, thoughts, and opinions on things. We dunno ;p we're social Fangirls! The poll results will be posted in a week's time (July 9th) and if majority is yes, we will link our new forum on our profile! So make sure you check back often for that.**

 **Anyways, some important things, to recap this chapter:**

 **Gezie is now taking a timeout from the team with Avi for the sake of her mental health, Kian's gone "missing", the team was able to get Carla's antidote, Travis revealed a part of his backstory and why he had to spy for Luthor, Roman's got freaky acid powers and Julia's now questioning her feelings for him, the team found Robin, the team now has to hijack a cargo plane to get the weapons back since Luthor anticipated their attack due to the mole's information, and Luthor… is now going to handle the Alpha Team, and is sending someone after them. Uh oh.**

 **So yeah, a lot of shit happened this chapter. We hope you enjoyed this crazy ride, as a lot of work went into it. Also, a huuuuge thanks to TechnoArtist for making some fanart(link down below. Remove all dashes and spaces)!You can thank Uni, as it is a super amazing drawing! (We love you, Uni :)**

 **Anyways, stay traught kids.**

 **Review, stay posted for that forum decision, and be prepared for a hell of a season finale.**

 **We hope you enjoyed!**

 **Bye, loves!**

 _~The Fangirls_

 **Questions:**

1\. Do you ultimately think the infiltration will be successful?

2\. Now that we're almost over with the second season, who do you think is most likely to die?

3\. Favorite moment from this chapter?

 **h-t-t-p :/ fav . me/ dcdmkyf**


	20. S2, Episode 10: Remembrance

**.**

 **How Far We've Fallen**

 **.x.x.x.x.x.**

 **Season 2, Episode 10**

 _~The YoungJusticeFangirls~_

 **Cadmus Labs**

 **November 6th, 02:40 A.M. EST**

 **2021**

"Alright. Important question, guys. Does anyone actually know how to fly a plane?"

Jack's question made the remaining group stop and think for a moment, each of them looking around and exchanging a glance.

A chorus of answers, mostly excuses and negatives rang out in the cabin of the jet they just stole, and Jack let out a short sigh.

"Great. Well, I can't fly a plane. Guess we'll just be winging it," He muttered.

Lediv let out a sharp laugh from the back of the group, giving Jack a smile. "Get the pun? We're flying and we're winging it-"

"No." Julia said firmly, making Lediv's face drop into a scowl.

"Well, I can fly. I've never flown a plane like this," Robin gestured to the complicated controls. "I can give it a shot and you guys can all hope we don't crash. Because this thing is going to be going very, very fast."

Lediv's golden eyes swept over the dashboard of the plane, and he smirked at Julia. "I also know how to fly. I guess you have a co-pilot now."

Julia rolled her eyes, as Robin gave a nod to the teen.

"Who's contributing _now?_ " He snorted to the girl.

"Just shut up and get us to the transport ship," she huffed, avoiding Jack's warning look. She knew they had to work together and all, but that didn't stop her from disliking Lediv. He was suspicious, and someone she didn't trust. She knew the others felt the same too.

Robin and Lediv began to converse quietly as they made their way towards the front of the plane, flipping a few switches in the cockpit. "Sit down. We're gonna get this baby moving real soon," Robin murmured as Lediv searched around the cockpit for a manual on how to fly the machine.

The others walked through the aisles, finding some seats, and buckling their seat belts. There was a rather awkward silence among them as Robin and Lediv figured out how to work the jet, then proceeded to take off in a rather smooth fashion. It made Jack hopeful for the hard task ahead of them.

Julia glanced at the window and watched as Metropolis faded from view, the glittering city only becoming a speck on the horizon as the awkward silence remained in the cabin. She never truly realized how beautiful and clean it looked from above, and for a moment, felt almost fortunate to be living there. The only dark spot was the man who controlled it: Luthor.

"S-So, how about we get to know each other? I-I mean, there's nothing else to do up here. And we have a little bit before we catch up to the plane," Travis suggested softly, not liking how tense things were. He could feel the hatred radiating off Roman, even without his powers.

"I told you kids, we are not holding hands and braiding each other's hair. This is a serious mission. No fraternizing," Chip grunted from across the aisle, reclining in the expensive leather seats.

"What do you suggest we do then?" Julia rolled her dark eyes, wishing she had brought her sketch book. She'd been going on so many missions and dealing with her teammates that she direly needed to catch up on her artwork.

Chip snorted, "Why don't you go ask Robin to put on a Disney Princess movie to entertain you while I plan our attack?"

"We don't need a plan, we just _attack_. It's fucking simple," Roman growled, turning around to face Chip.

"Oh yeah, I forgot. I have to keep things simple so you can understand them, dumbass," Chip shot back.

Roman gripped the arm rests of the jet, and they began to smoke from his acid touch. He noticed this, let out an exasperated grumble, and tried to wipe the acid on his pants. It only resulted in the fabric of his suit beginning to melt away.

"I smell smoke!" Robin poked his head out from the cockpit. "If you burn this cabin down, so help me, I will turn this plane around and then it will be a solo mission."

The team stayed silent, Roman wanting to say something, but not wanting to push the new guy's buttons. Julia, strangely enough, had immediately recognized the man back at Cadmus, and refused to let Roman test him under any circumstances. The redheaded boy was suspicious, but due to everything going on with the Alpha Team, didn't push it.

"Be productive," Robin met the gaze of everyone there, then promptly returned to Lediv and the plane.

Another round of silence ensued, until Julia finally broke it.

"So, Chip…" Roman began, an eerily calm look on his face despite the occurrence that just happened. "How'd you end up hating Luthor?"

A collective groan came from the other three teens in protest, and Roman gave them a shrug. "What? At least I'm not kicking his ass like I did in the compound."

"One, you did not win, I did-"

"Only when Elle tazed me-"

"Shut up. My turn to talk." Chip paused a moment, making sure Roman would actually shut up. Satisfied, he gave a nod, and continued. "As I was going to say, I don't mind talking about why I hate Luthor. If anything, the world must know what happened to me. Then you'll really understand why America needs the Light of Justice."

Jack's lips twisted into a frown. He already knew where this was going, and didn't need to be reminded of where _he_ came from.

"What _did_ happen to you?" Julia asked cautiously, resting her head on her hand expectantly.

"Just…listen, okay?"

 **.x.X.x.**

 _Metropolis_

 _March 13th, 03:30 P.M EST_

 _2016_

 _The pounding in Chip Canly's head seemingly beat in time with the heart monitor, and at the moment, it was the only thing keeping him tied to the room he was trapped in._

" _Injecting syringe eleven," A voice echoed through the room, making Chip's ears ring. They never rang like that before, he thought frantically. Something was wrong with his body, they had done something to him-_

 _A blood curdling scream erupted from Chip as the technician slid the needle into his neck, and the young man thrashed against the metal restraints that pinned his arms to the cold, metal table. His wrists were raw and red, the skin chafed away from how much he strained against what held him down. His bindings were slick with his own blood._

 _The liquid that seared through his veins made him feel like he was melting; the room got so hot._

" _Subject 0834 needs another dosage to maintain the level."_

 _Chip let out another whimper. They were giving him more. It had been three weeks of agony inside this facility, doing tests and experiments every couple days with new drugs, new procedures, new methods of turning him into what they wanted. A super soldier. A weapon._

 _He never wanted this, Chip never allowed them to do this. They had just taken what they wanted._

" _P-Please…"_

 _One word was all he could manage from his hoarse throat, as he cracked open his dark brown eyes, sweeping the room to see who his tormentors were._

 _His gaze landed on a tall, dark skinned man behind the technician operating on him, who held a flask in his trembling hand._

" _Harvard, could you hand me that syringe over there?" The technician asked the dark skinned man nonchalantly._

 _The man, now known as Harvard, was speechless for a moment from what he witnessed. His mouth opened and closed a few times in disbelief, then shook his head slightly. "Here," He grabbed the syringe off the table, and handed it to the technician._

 _He wasn't able to meet Chip's eyes as the doctor slid the needle into his arm, but for the split second their eyes met again, he recognized a flicker of sympathy in Harvard's eyes before the man took a swig of his flask._

 **Atlantic Ocean**

 **November 6th, 03:00 A.M. EST**

 **2021**

"I was just a college student when they kidnapped me. And after I broke out of Cadmus, when the project when haywire, my family…" He trailed off, a dark look in his eyes.

The other teens stared in absolute shock and horror of the story Chip just told them. Jack forced back a wave of vomit in his throat, images from his time in Cadmus burning in his mind. His time in the facility had been similar, but at least the doctors that changed him were somewhat nice to him as a child.

"God, I can't imagine...did your family kick you out? After they saw you...as…" Julia trailed off, her face pale. She knew Luthor was an awful man, but sentencing another human being to this? That was another level.

"No. They tried to accept me. But once the next full moon rolled around, I couldn't control the wolf," Chip said bitterly, his bottom lip trembling.

Another round of silence filled the cabin as Chip wiped the corner of his eye.

"I don't care what you say, Travis," Roman murmured finally. "I'm killing him."

"You think my story is bad, huh? Everyone in the Light of Justice, everyone has had a similar experience. It's not just me," Chip growled angrily. "All we ever wanted was justice. No one was ever going to give us the justice we deserved, no one was ever going to fight for us. So we did what needed to be done to make sure Luthor wouldn't get away with his crimes. He may be powerful, but without the money and titles, he's still human. And every human must own up to what they've done somewhere down the line."

Jack's usually emotionless face shifted into a scowl. "So that 'justice' included you murdering people that worked for Luthor, people who had families? It involved you taking over our school, kidnapping my friends, shooting Avi, poisoning Carla and Roman? Roman will never be the same again because of you!" The boy's voice began to raise, reverberating throughout the cabin.

Travis shrunk in his seat, not wanting to get involved. He'd only seen Jack angry a few times, and it wasn't pretty. This time was no different.

"There was nothing else we could do!" Chip argued, glaring at the boy from across the aisle. His hands were bone white, clenched around the armrests of his seat, nails digging into the expensive leather. "The Justice League and their proteges were too busy hiding because they fucked up, letting that building explode! Who else was going to fight against him?"

No one in the seats noticed the door to the cockpit sliding open, and Robin poking his head out, watching cautiously.

"Don't you bring the Justice League into this," Julia's once shaky voice was dark and cold, her eyes also following suit.

Chip let out a dry laugh, "And what the hell do you know about the League?"

"A lot!" She yelled.

Robin cleared his throat, startling the squabbling group, an annoyed look on his face. He tapped his foot impatiently, waiting for the group to quiet down, a sullen silence washing over them.

"The Justice League...is partially to blame for this," Robin confirmed, his eyes trailing to Chip sadly, almost as if he was regretful of what the man became.

"So maybe they are!" Julia erupted, scrambling to her feet. "But Luthor played them! He used their image to his advantage, picked off agents of the League to make it look like they went into hiding, and the world turned against them!"

Robin paused, a thoughtful look on his face. "How do you know that? We've withheld that information from the public for years…" Julia bit her lip in defiance, refusing to answer. A look of realization came onto Robin's face. "I recognize you."

"No, no you don't-"

"Is your last name Rothschild?"

Julia went silent, her gaze transfixed on the window across the cabin, watching the clouds pass by. She didn't know how she could avoid this anymore, how she could keep it hidden, especially with Robin on the team. "Yes. I'm Julia Rothschild."

"How didn't I see it before?" Robin's face turned into one of awe. "You look exactly like Marie."

"Who's Marie? And why does he know you?" Roman scowled, not liking how the pair were leaving the rest of them in the dark. It was irking him that people on this team had _more_ secrets, but he knew he shouldn't be surprised. He realized that Julia had kept her past in the dark, secret from the rest of them. Now, here it was to bite them all in the ass.

"Marie was my mother. She worked for the Justice League."

 **.x.X.x.**

 _Manhattan, New York_

 _July 17th, 09:30 P.M EST_

 _2021_

" _Julia? Could you come here a moment?"_

 _A rather tired voice echoed through their tiny Manhattan apartment, where the girl was carefully folding clothes in the kitchen, a pile of shirts strewn on their beaten-up wooden table. Julia hated menial tasks, but they weren't too bad, considering it was just her and Robert living here._

 _The teen put down the shirt she was folding, and got up, padding down the hall until she reached the office. She wasn't really allowed in here, considering Robert's work for the Justice League was top secret. He was an agent in name, but a mercenary on the job, taking out criminals too dangerous to be put in jail. Not everyone could be saved in this world, he had told her._

 _Julia never gave him any grief for what he did. He didn't deserve it. Robert had taken her off the streets when she was twelve, after her parents had met their unfortunate demise, and the pair had never looked back. They were a family; a small, broken one, but a family nonetheless._

 _The teen slipped inside the cramped office littered with filing cabinets overflowing with paperwork, cases of ammunition, a tangle of wires leading to an ancient, dusty computer resting on a folding table. But on the folding table sat a little blue device._

" _Close the door," Robert told her quietly, and she did as told. Her guardian was a young, though tired man of thirty, who had hard lines on his mocha colored face. His dreadlocks were messily pulled back with a hair tie, and dark circles were under his eyes._

" _What's...going on?" Julia asked cautiously, her eyes flicking to the blue device._

" _I tried," He murmured weakly, before leaning against the wall._

 _Before she could question him any further, the device whirred to live, a light peeking out of it. It began to melt into the shape of a woman, and Julia squinted her eyes at it._

" _Hello, Julia Rothschild. My name is Agent Olson, and I'm a part of the Justice League. You're probably already familiar with us, because of your parents, so I'll keep this message short and sweet. We've been monitoring your movements, and your success at getting your powers under control. We are pleased to induct you into the Justice League as a member-"_

" _Wait, wait. I never agreed to this." The girl interrupted, holding up a hand. Her mind was whirling; what was even going on? Who was this woman? Had she worked with her parents?_

 _There was a rather awkward pause. "Well, surely you'll want to be an agent. We are some of the most elite operatives on Earth, dedicated to keeping the human race safe alongside Superman and the other heroes-"_

" _My parents warned me about you. They told me what you really do. You guys do the dirty work, the stuff the Justice League doesn't do. You guys kill people for your own self interest. I'm not stupid, and if you think you can fool me into helping you, you're the idiot in the room," She finished, tone flat and cold._

 _Julia knew why they were contacting her now of all times. She had just taken the entrance exam to go to Luthor's Academy for the Gifted. They wanted a sleeper agent._

" _Miss Rothschild, I don't think you understand what's going on here. We are a prestigious organization with the Earth's best interests in mind, and if you turn this offer down-"_

" _What happens if I say 'No'?"_

 _There was silence on the other end. A dead, awkward silence that made Julia uneasy._

" _Well, obviously we'll have to keep the League safe from any potential threats, and if we feel you'd compromise this organization, we will take whatever actions are necessary," Agent Olson said carefully, her tone strained. She didn't sound happy, and Julia assumed her patience was wearing thin. Good, she didn't care, the girl scoffed._

" _So, if we're not being vague here, I'd become a target?" Julia prompted, trying to get to the bottom of it. She could feel her anger bubbling up dangerously; these people were trying her patience._

" _You know what? I've tried to be the nice guy, have it your way. Simply speaking, yes. We will eliminate you," Agent Olson told her bluntly._

 _A prickle crawled over her skin, and her stomach churned. An enemy of the League, how could one ever survive that? Her parents didn't; they had left the organization after years of doing their bidding, and now they were simply corpses rotting underground. How could Julia, a seventeen year old girl who could barely keep her powers in check, run from them?_

 _But she wasn't going to let the League win. They took her parents, and she'd be damned if she aided murderers._

" _I'll…" The girl trailed off, noticing a black communicator on the table as well. That must have been for her, when she went off to the Academy. For when she would give the League all Luthor's deepest secrets. Feeling a surge of fury and confidence, she snatched the communicator off the table, and worked the plastic cover off until she was staring at all the innards of the machine._

 _Her obsidian eyes roamed over wires until she found a red blinking device, promptly ripped it out, and crushed it between her fingertips._

" _Julia, what are you do-"_

" _We're going to stay in touch. But as of right now, I don't know where I stand." She set her jaw firmly, staring into Agent Olson's eyes. "But you should understand you don't know who you're messing with, if you do come after me. I won't hesitate to kill you." The girl said coldly, clearly enunciating every word to make sure Olson understood._

" _We will keep that in mind. And you should know that making yourself an enemy of the League is a foolish decision, so your parents learned."_

 _Julia's eyes flashed at that comment, and Robert put a hand on her shoulder. She forced herself to nod, and flicked off the hologram quickly before storming out of the office._

" _Julia, I'm sorry, I really tried-"_

" _And you still failed. You fucking failed me, and my parents." The teen snarled back at Robert as she whisked down the hall, only pausing once to spit those words out before she escaped back to her bedroom, slamming the door._

 _Robert sighed, running a hand through his dreadlocks. He really did try to protect her, but some things were out of his control._

 **Atlantic Ocean**

 **November 6th, 03:20 A.M. EST**

 **2021**

"I wasn't hiding things from you all, I was protecting you from them," Julia finished, sullenly slumped against the seat. "If I ended up dead in the dorm one day, I didn't want the League to come after you guys next."

Roman balled his fists, scowling as he growled, "So, what? Anyone else have something to share while we're putting all our secrets out? Huh, who's next?"

"This is exactly why I left the League," Robin let out a sharp bark of laughter. "I never expected them to be saints, but what they're doing is wrong. Instead of protecting Luthor's experiments, they killed them or weaponized them. They took down agents that wanted to leave or disagree with them. I wouldn't stand for that. Batman wouldn't have wanted that."

"B-Batman?" Travis squeaked, silver eyes wide. Then, he connected the dots. "Oh, y-you're that Robin! I thought that was your name!"

"No, Robin is my codename. I'm _that_ Robin, Batman's protege." He chuckled, but didn't seem very happy about the fact. "Which is why Luthor captured me."

"Collateral to keep Batman in hiding, letting Luthor get away with all his illegal stuff!" Roman realized, his theory confirmed with a nod from the raven haired man. "So, if your name isn't Robin, then what _is_ your name-"

"Hate to interrupt story time," Lediv's voice boomed through the cabin. "But Roman, it's your time to shine, buddy! Five minutes until we reach the plane!"

"Ready, Jack?" Roman got up from his seat, beginning to jog lightly to start sweating. He'd need all the nitroglycerin he could get, as he'd have to fly into a plane, while carrying Jack.

"You always look so stupid when you fire up your powers. It's why I love them," Jack cracked a tiny smile, before adjusting his combat suit. "I'm ready. Let's get those weapons back."

As Jack and Roman walked down the hall, reciting the plan, Travis turned back to Robin. "But what about Julia? The League is still threatening her, and we're probably running out of time."

"I'll take care of it, tell them you're under my protection. The League won't mess with me," Robin assured them, giving them a tight lipped smile. The neutral expression and even tone he held indicated was very good at masking his feelings, Julia absentmindedly noted. It was at that moment she knew that the League had trained her well, giving her the ability to see through people like they were made of glass. And when Julia was interrogating or battling them, they were just that. All too easy to break with her hands or words.

It was a subtle detail, but one she didn't like. It reminded her of where she came from, and for Julia, that was unsettling enough.

 **Alpha Dorms**

 **November 6th, 02:40 A.M. EST**

 **2021**

"C'mon, Redhawk. C'mon!"

Avi's hushed but frantic voice could be heard throughout the Alpha Dorm as he quickly ripped open a wooden case, and pulled out a bright green liquid, inspecting it in the light. Turning back to Raven, who was apprehensively pacing across the kitchen floor, he called, "This it?"

"That's what they told me! We...can't be sure until we try it," Raven muttered, though his eyebrows drew together as he was deep in thought. He didn't like how the fate of his teammate was riding on this tiny vial of liquid. It seemed too easy. Inject Carla with the antidote, and everything would be rainbows and sunshine. But was anything ever that simple? Raven hoped with every fiber in his being that would be the case.

"Raven! Go check her pulse!" Avi commanded from the other room, where he began transporting the liquid into a syringe.

The teen timidly walked to the living room, peeking at Carla O'Connell, who was sprawled out on the leather couch. He had to admit, the druidess would have looked beautiful with her brown curls splayed out on the pillow like a halo, if not for the green shade her face had and the sheen of sweat on her forehead.

Raven took a washcloth off the oak coffee table and wiped off the liquid, feeling her pulse.

"It's faint, but it's there! Hurry!" He called hoarsely, tears pricking his eyes. She had passed out the moment they'd arrived back at the dorm, Raven's shadow travel taking its toll on the teen. Jack had probably saved her life by sending her home tonight.

Avi came rushing out of the kitchen, skidding across the kitchen floor, his dark hair stuck to his forehead with sweat. It took him a split second to arrive, wasting no time by cleaning off her wrist with an alcohol wipe, then lining up the needle with her vein. Avi held his breath as he gingerly inserted the metal and the liquid.

"All we can do is wait now, right?" Raven asked softly.

Avi nodded simply. "All we can do it wait."

Their waiting only lasted a few minutes. A soft groan made the boy's eyes widen eagerly as Carla cracked open her eyes.

"Carla! How do you feel?" Avi asked quickly, concern lacing his tone. God, he didn't want her to die. Not after this, not after everything they had done to survive everything the universe threw at them.

The girl opened her mouth to speak and the teens leaned in to hear.

"G-Guys...I think I'm going to puke…" She coughed out quickly, eyes widening in realization and horror. Raven wasted no time shadow traveling to the bathroom and back, brining a trash can, and he let Carla do her thing.

"What are you adverting your eyes for?" Avi asked Raven awkwardly, who was making a point to stare out the giant kitchen window.

Raven ran a hand through his hair, "It feels...weird...also, privacy!"

Avi was about to reply, but his phone rang, and he ran to the kitchen to answer it

"You're _such_ a gentleman," She rasped out weakly, letting out another groan. "Everything hurts."

"Do you...want me to shadow travel you back to your room-"

"Absolutely _not!"_ She wheezes, then buried her head in the couch cushions. "Let me sleep."

"Sorry, sorry!" Raven put both his hands up, backing away from the girl. He reconvened in the kitchen with Avi moments later. "So? What was that call about?" He questioned.

Avi let out a shaky breath. "Jack just called. Somehow, they got that fucking plane and no one died." He shook his head, but raised a finger, holding off Raven's cheering. "They need me to disable the bombs, though. Any wrong move with them and...Yeah. We have to get over there as soon as we can."

"No problem. Travis' energy has me on an adrenaline high!" Raven smirked, but paused, glancing back at the hallway. "What about Gezie?"

"She's...sleeping. I think. God, I hope she's not crying again-" Avi blurted quickly, unable to keep his worries to himself, before reining himself in. He had to stay calm. That was the only way they'd get through this, right? For the team. "I'll text her what's going on. She'll have to take care of Carla. Now, let's go." He decided.

And just like that, the teens were gone into the darkness.

 **The Docks**

 **November 6th, 04:00 A.M. EST**

 **2021**

Julia gripped the armrest of her seat tightly, her nails digging into the cream colored leather. This was a nightmare. Lediv Awbree, one of the most inexperienced pilots she had probably ever met in her life, was now landing the plane that contained several nuclear and hydrogen bombs. One false move, and the entire state would be wiped off the map.

It was terrifying, to say the least.

The rest of her team; Roman, Jack, Robin, and Chip were back with the hijacked Cadmus tech, inspecting the weaponry. Avi was supposedly coming to take care of disarming them, so they wouldn't accidentally fuck everything up get blown to smithereens.

"The bird has landed," Lediv's smooth, honeyed voice came over the jet's sound system. Julia made for the exit quickly, wrenching open the door. She simply hopped down from the plane with an intricate flip. She couldn't stay in that cabin much longer; too many things had happened. Too many secrets had flown from the lips of the unwilling.

The teen began to walk around the docks, making sure there weren't any bystanders around to interfere with their operation. Best not to have anyone killed in the crossfire, right?

Julia found it weird that her team knew where she came from. How she had learned to fight. How she had learned to kill. Robert had always made sure she was exceptionally good at breaking people like they were made of glass and once; she had hated it. Now, she was thankful for that ability.

"You'd think people would learn not to go wandering off on their own, especially in dangerous situations like this."

A gun clicked behind her head, and she froze. She could feel the cold steel barrel on the back of her skull now. How had they snuck up on her? She should have sensed it, but Julia assumed she was dealing with no ordinary threat now.

Fine. She could use a challenge, the girl reasoned.

"My wandering has a purpose," She drawled nonchalantly, staring straight ahead at a sheet of glass propped up against the crate. Julia squinted, hoping to catch a glimpse of who was about to get their ass handed to them.

A throaty chuckle. "Oh, yes? What would that purpose be?"

"To find people like you."

And at that split second, Julia grabbed the firearm, pushing it away from her, and slammed her heel into his gut. Her opponent flew back, his gun going off, upon hitting the ground. He simply rolled back into a standing position, pointing the handgun back at her.

Her attacker was a rather tall man, with spiky, ginger colored hair and piercing amber eyes. Julia found it odd that he wore a simple suit other than something for battle; he looked like he was about to go out to dinner, other than face down one of the most dangerous teenage girls in America.

"And what was the purpose of that? To get yourself killed?" He questioned simply. He thought he had her cornered.

"No, this." With a simple flick of her finger, the gun exploded in his hands, sending the man stumbling back. To her dismay his fingers were still attached, probably because of his weird looking gloves, she deduced.

"Dammit!" He cussed, wiping a streak of blood from his split lip. He knew he was lucky the shrapnel wasn't much worse, and his insufficient injury had to do with the heavy combat armor he'd been given for this job. His boss had specifically told him that these kids were dangerous and he was glad he prepared appropriately for any...surprises like this. "Fine then. Fair move," He conceded.

Almost immediately, Jack Arsenault came sprinting around the corner of the crate, his eyes zeroing in on the newcomer.

The man opened his mouth in surprise by Jack's quick arrival, but let out a short laugh. "Oh, I see now. That was a signal for your friends! Clever girl," He gave Julia a tight lipped smile that made her squirm.

"Wanna tag team? I bet we can take him down in less than a minute," The girl smirked, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ears. Naturally, they were an amazing team together, from their training, so she figured this would be an easy fight.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," The main pointed out, arching a thin brow of his. "You see, I'm not the only one here now. Take a look if you don't believe me, Julia."

Jack scoffed, initially not believing him and slipping into his stance, but pursed his lips in thought. What if this man was right? Maybe they'd better check, just to be sure? Better safe than sorry, after all.

Julia exchanged a wary glance with her teammate; they were both thinking the same thing. They needed to check this out and make sure this guy wasn't right. So the teen whirled around, sprinting off down the docks, leaving Jack behind.

Once she got a little ways away, she could hear the rumble of heavy military trucks coming down the drive. He had been right after all. Damn.

Julia took a deep breath, tightening her chocolate brown hair in its ponytail, and got ready to do her best to distract them. She had to hold them off, or take out as many as she could-

"Hey, Julia." A voice called calmly from behind her. The teen jumped, immediately raising her fists, but lowered them when she saw who it was.

Phoebe Phantom stood there, smirking at Julia, the entire Beta team behind her and dressed in their mission suits. "Avi said you guys might need some help. This seems like a pretty big job."

"And we haven't gotten much action lately," David piped up, wearing a suit of armor made completely of glass. She totally knew he was showing off his power at this point. "Ms. Graves has been having us run petty missions lately, like stopping burglaries. I need something...more challenging."

"So you think going up against an army is _challenging_? I think it's suicidal," Ana grumbled, before shaking her head and getting back to the topic. "But yes, we're here to help you take these guys out."

"I thought you didn't have powers?" Julia arched a brow.

Ana's expression darkened, "I never said that. And besides, I have my trusty crossbow!" She put a smile on her face, one that looked rather forced, and held up a sleek black crossbow.

"Plus, we're here! We're all badasses!" David said, a beaming smile on his face as he cracked his knuckles playfully. "I can't wait to crack some heads!"

Julia merely blinked at David's love of violence; it was a different kind from Roman's, where he actually wanted to _kill_ instead of just fight. The teen took a slight step back.

"He's like this all the time," Phoebe Phantom whispered. "Ana thinks he might literally be insane, but he makes cool art."

Julia gave the fourteen year old a strange look, unsure how making pretty art canceled out the fact that David might literally be insane, but decided she shouldn't question it at this point. They had a job to do. "Duly noted. Let's go crack some heads," She jerked her head towards David, then motioned the team to gather around, ready to make their battle plans.

 **The Docks**

 **November 6th, 05:00 A.M. EST**

 **2021**

"Everyone out of this plane!" Avi shouted as he shadow traveled inside of it with Raven. Travis, Roman, Chip, Robin, and Lediv all looked from where they were huddled around the weaponry, exchanging quick glances between each other.

"H-How's Carla-"

"Alive, but barely. We can't worry about her now. Luthor brought some uninvited guests, and you guys need to take care of them." Avi commanded quickly, his dark eyes transfixed on the crates of weapons. He was unsure of himself, _what ifs_ running round his mind, but he quickly steeled himself. The team needed this; the _world_ needed this. He would not fail them now.

"Avi, I can help! You'll need to fly this plane out into the ocean, right? When you get rid of the weapons? I can fly it out, then Raven can teleport us bank!" Lediv offered excitedly. "And besides, I don't have any powers-"

"Cut the bullshit." Raven gave him an even stare, and the other boy returned it easily, a tense moment between them. "Lediv's right, though. I can't fly, and you'll be busy disarming the bombs."

Avi, already pulling tools and materials out of his pack, wasn't really listening as he began to pry open the first crate. He merely nodded at Raven's plan.

The others left the plane, hopping down and onto the concrete.

' _Barely alive.'_

Avi's status report on Carla ran through his mind. It was all because of Chip, he realized, giving the man a withering and steady glare.

"Roman, you and I can take out the left side of Luthor's men. Those kids-" Chip pointed to the Beta team, who were already in action. "Seem to have most of that side under control. Robin and Travis, you can aid them."

Roman forced himself to nod as the others ran off. The only thing keeping him from attacking Chip was the thought of his team, the thought of Gezie. He couldn't let her down. He had to hold it together, by any means necessary. But something told him it wouldn't be easy.

' _Barely alive.'_

And those words would keep echoing in his mind.

 **.x.X.x.**

David _may_ have been overconfident when he made his last statement. Ducking behind a metal crate as the soldiers he was fighting shot at him, he knew he was majorly outnumbered. The other problem was that his powers weren't really suited for firearm combat, considering he controlled glass and bullets pierced the material easily. But, nevertheless, David was an amazing fighter, and he would give them a show.

Rolling out from behind the crate, he hardened his suit of glass to protect from the incoming spray of bullets, then shattered the glass in the trucks behind the men, lifting it up with a flick of his hand, and sending it straight into his opponents-effectively impaling them.

The soldiers dropped to the ground, groaning and writhing in pain, while the teen gave them a cocky smirk.

Everything happened in slow motion as a bullet echoed across the docks, and he felt someone tackle him to the ground. By the time Roman rolled off of him, Chip, now in his early stages of his lycan form, had sliced apart the sniper hiding behind the car.

"Thanks," David croaked weakly, his brown eyes flicking to check over his armor. He noticed where Roman's hands touched the pieces of glass melted and steamed. "Uh, does that happen a lot?"

Roman's eyes widened when he saw the acid melting the glass, and quickly wiped his hands on the concrete, watching as it too began to melt. "Sorry. Yeah, that happens."

"Good to know."

"Guys! We've got another load of trucks coming in!" Chip shouted as Roman pushed him up off the ground.

' _Barely alive.'_

Carla almost died because of him. Roman got these new powers, one that could burn through concrete, glass, metal. His personality was twisted and warped; he would probably never be the same again. All because Chip wanted him to murder Luthor.

Roman's feet were off the ground as soon as that thought ran through his mind, and he rammed straight into Chip, slamming him against the metal crate.

He could faintly hear David yelling in the background, then the sound of shattering glass, but he wasn't paying much attention. All Roman saw was Chip's bewildered and confused stare, then the pain that rippled through it as he slammed a left hook into his jaw.

"Are you-" Chip gasped, managing to knee him in the gut. "Insane?!" That only pissed the teen off even more, and he upped his assault.

"No. I'm _angry."_

Fear splintered through Chip as he felt one of his ribs crack.

"Barely alive. That's what Avi said. And you feel no fucking remorse? You want justice, yet you poison Carla and I. You want justice, yet you torture a teenage boy with his worst fear. You wanna know what else you did?" Roman stopped his attack for a split second, the fire burning inside of him reflecting in his darkened eyes. And then, he placed his left hand on Chip's face, reveling in the agonized scream that followed.

"I was going to wait for Karma to give you retribution, but that stuff is bullshit. And besides, I'd rather do it myself," He snarled, watching as the flesh began to melt away under his touch.

"Roman!"

He felt people pull him away from Chip, watching as the man crumpled to the ground, barely conscious and groaning in pain. He tried to shake them off, and stomp on the man's head, but someone punched him. Hard. It wasn't a normal punch either, it was uncannily strong, making his eyes water when it connected.

Roman's gaze met Julia's, and his roar of anger died in his throat.

Her bottom lip trembled and her grip tightened, making him relax in her hold.

"All I-I... ever wanted was justice." He began, voice shaky at first. "No one was ever going to give him the justice he deserved; no one was ever going to fight for us."

Julia realized he was repeating what Chip had said in the jet. She was too horrified to be angry at this point, and David saw it as he held Roman too, sympathetic for what had just happened.

"I told you. It's a cycle of hate, and you're just another victim of it."

Who was he? This wasn't the Roman Polaris she knew; this wasn't the boy she had a crush on. This was an imposter.

"I don't consider myself a victim." He murmured firmly, gaze trailing downwards. David let go of his arm cautiously, then ran to the semi-conscious Chip, using a bottle of water from his bag to begin to flush the wounds.

"And I don't consider you a hero."

At that moment, she knew any feelings she could have held withered away inside of her. And she didn't even try to stop it.

 **The Docks**

 **November 6th, 05:30 A.M. EST**

 **2021**

Avi's skinny fingers meticulously cut several different wires, then ripped them out. He didn't need blueprints; he remembered all of his designs and building strategies.

"And… Done!" Avi shouted to Lediv, who sat in the cockpit of the plane. Immediately, he fired it up, and the teen held onto something as they began to roll down the docks, and take off into the sky.

"Get down!" Raven shouted as he hit the floor, and a spray of bullets pierced the sides of the plane, taking out some of the windows too.

The teen held his breath, army-crawled to the front of the cabin, pulling out some masks for them, and strapped it on. He then threw the mask to Avi across the room.

"Alright, I'm rigging up the explosives now." He mumbled, feeling the plane begin to fly faster. He knew that the plane was really speeding through the air, going up at a really sharp angle as Lediv got them away from the battle. Avi clung to a seat while he began to attach the small bomb; it was rather little in size, but it was one of his own creations and it had a special chemical compound that would destroy all the illegal weapons Luthor had him make in seconds.

He worked to link wires together as their altitude increased, steadily completing the bomb within a few seconds.

"Let's go!" Avi shouted to the other boys. Lediv quickly smashed the autopilot button, ran out to Raven, grabbed a hold of his arm.

Raven closed his eyes, and within a second they were gone.

 **The Docks**

 **November 6th, 06:00 A.M. EST**

 **2021**

As Jack threw what seemed like the millionth punch, he silently realized that he resented agreeeing to work with Luthor. He resented it quite a bit, and for ssomeone who'd been with Luthor for half his life, that was an impressive feat.

The man, who he knew as Leon Coal, blocked it for what seemed like the millionth time with his ring, a rather useful gadget that could produce a forcefield strong enough to withstand explosions. It pissed Jack off.

"Stop hiding behind that thing!" The teen snapped, sending a flurry of punches towards the assassin. Jack had heard of Leon from Luthor, since he was pretty close to the billionaire, and knew he was often called in to handle dirty work for the man. The forcefield flickered, but held, sparking mre frustration in the boy.

"I'm not hiding, simply waiting for an opening," Leon corrected, firing a few bullets at Jack. They bounced off his suit.

A couple feet away, Raven, Lediv, and Avi popped into sight, the former exhausted from the over-usage of his powers. Raven began to stumble and sway, his eyelids fluttering, and Lediv wrapped an arm around him.

"Go get him some help! And call the police, I'm going to try and help Jack get this dude in handcuffs!" Avi shouted as Lediv nodded, helping Raven to the sidelines. He began to rummage around his pack, looking for something that he might be able to use as a weapon. While he had no firearms, a grin slipped onto his face as he pulled out a taser.

Leon eyed the taser and Jack warily, knowing he could probably only take one at a time. If he went after Avi, the other would come after him, and vice-versa.

The man pulled out a long, black tube from the inside of his suit, and attached what looked like a trigger.

"It really is quite astounding that we were fighting for the same side at one time. Now look how far you've fallen."  
And he pressed the trigger, flames exiting the end of the tube.

Eyes widening, Jack stumbled back, fear surging throughout his body. No. He couldn't let anyone associated with Luthor do what they did to him when he was child. The fire was so hot and painful; the burns hurt so much…

"N-No…" He gasped, stumbling back and gripping his head, trembling uncontrollably. He was vaguely aware of Avi shouting something at him, but couldn't focus because of that damn fire.

Moments later, he heard the click of a weapon, and the glint of a barrel.

He tried to make himself move faster, tried to reach Avi in time.

But by the time that he was able to reach him, it was already too late.

 **The Docks**

 **November 6th, 06:00 A.M. EST**

 **2021**

Julia crossed arms uncomfortably, watching as Chip Canly was loaded up into an ambulance, police and paramedics all talking quietly. They had said there would be significant damage to him, but within a few years, he could recover fully. His face would never heal properly, due to the acid, but he'd still be able to function.

"Thank god…" She murmured to herself, watching as they shut the doors with a bang. The girl felt guilty, plain and simple. Maybe _she_ had never done anything to Chip, but she should have stopped Roman sooner. Should have seen the signs. Roman was no hero, he was just part of the cycle.

"Julia, please. Talk to me."

Speak of the devil, her frown deepening. Turning around, Julia arched a brow. "What is there left to talk about, Roman? You know the saying, actions speak louder than words."

"Julia. He deserved it-"

"He didn't deserve any of that shit! There needed to be justice, not punishment!" She yelled. "You are so damn twisted and I'm sick of it!"

Roman was flabbergasted. "What do you mean…"

"I really cared about you! I liked you a lot, I was even considering asking Gezie for help on asking you out! But now? There's no way. I can't ever have feelings for someone so... _wrong."_

Her words floored him, and it was written all over his face. "This isn't my fault! He changed me to be like this! But if that's the fucking way you want it to be-"

A loud boom cut him off, making the pair freeze. They turned towards the sound, horror coming onto their faces as they heard the screams and saw the smoke.

"Oh god…" Julia murmured as they heard someone scream Avi's name.

They never exchanged a single glance as they sprinted forward towards the explosion.

 **.x.X.x.**

 **You guys have no idea how much work went into this chapter. It's huge, we spent hours simply writing it, and then more hours editing it and planning with the readers. It was a lot of work, but we finished it finally. But here it is! The Season Finale! We really hope you enjoyed, because this was definitely one of our favorites to write. It had something for every character, and a lot of developments. Here's a recap for those who missed it: there were backstory developments for Chip and Julia, Carla was barely able to be saved by the antidote Chip provided but it is unknown if there will be any repercussions from the toxin, Leon Coal arrived in the story, the weapons were destroyed, Roman has gone to the darkside and has critically injured Chip, Julia has renounced her feelings for him, and there was that climactic ending that we are totally not going to tell you about. You guys don't get many cliffhangers in this story, and now we're fixing that.**

 **We've started the forum we talked about last chapter, and hope you all can join! Check out the link in our profile!**

 **We hope you all are prepared for the next season, as it's going to blow your mind. Be prepared for everything and anything to happen.**

 **We do not know when the next update will be, due to school starting soon, but stay posted! We'd also like to remind everyone that we put a lot of fucking work into these chapters, and feedback is needed. Reviews are very much much appreciated, encourage us and make us very happy. Please answer the questions, too.**

 **Thanks for reading guys, hope you enjoyed this installment!**

 _ **~The Fangirls**_

 **Questions:**

1\. Overall thoughts of this season? Was season 1 or 2 better?

2\. Did you like your character's arc this season?

3\. Favorite Episode and moments?

4\. What did you think of the backstories seen? Would you like to see more character backstories?


	21. Special Episode: Together

**.**

 **How Far We've Fallen**

 **.x.x.x.x.x.**

 **Special Episode**

 _~The YoungJusticeFangirls~_

 **Metropolis**

 **November 5th, 09:30 P.M. EST**

 **2021**

Avi Redhawk took a deep breath, nervously running a hand through his dark hair as he walked down the streets of Metropolis. He was incredibly on edge after this eventful evening, and hoped the nausea in his stomach would subside soon. He did not want to go to dinner with Gezella Leclerc feeling like he was going to vomit out his anxiety.

His brown eyes flicked over to the other teen, who was walking besides him. Avi Redhawk had hung out with his leader quite a few times, after all, the pair used to live in the same dorm before Rashid moved him to the Omega team. But tonight was different.

They were going out to dinner. Just the two of them. Together. And Gezie just had a mental breakdown.

Needless to say, the pressure was on for Avi. He was becoming aware of the fact that his heart beat a little louder around her, and his palms got a little sweatier. It was rather uncomfortable for the teen, who never truly experienced attraction to a girl on that level. But it was even _more_ uncomfortable because she was his leader; Gezie was his friend. Did he really like her? He wasn't exactly sure.

"Is this it?"

Gezie turned to her friend as they stopped in front of a tiny, quaint diner in the middle of Metropolis. One of the only family owned restaurants left, Jack had recommended it to them before they left, hoping this would get the two in a better state of mind.

"Uh, y-yeah. This is it," Avi nodded. Stuttering in front of Gez? When did he ever do that? Well, he was somewhat crushing on her, after all.

Seeing her reach for the door, the teen immediately sprung into action, and grabbed the door just ahead of her. "H-Here. Let me…"

There was an awkward moment where their eyes met as he held the door opened, and a blush crept onto his cheeks.

"Thanks, Avi," She replied, giving him that sweet, caring smile. He felt heat rush to his face in response. He lived to see those smiles.

The pair walked in, awkwardly trying to decide whether to wait to be seated, or just picking their own table. "How about we just take that table over there…" Gezie gestured to a seat in the middle of the room.

"Could we get a booth?" Avi quickly suggested, the blush becoming more prominent as his team leader raised a brow in curiosity. God, why was he so awkward around girls? Maybe he could have one of the guys teach him how to act around her? But he didn't know who would be best suited for the job; Jack was rather apathetic, and oblivious to other girls flirting with him at the Academy, Roman was too much of an asshole to even be considered for this, Travis was...Well, Travis, and Raven was the youngest on the team.

"Oh god. Julia's going to have to teach me how to flirt," Avi breathed in absolute horror, scenarios running through his mind. Julia sending him out in the school to try and pick up chicks, Julia "encouraging" him to man-up and ask Gezie out by with the threat of making him run seven miles, the other girls getting involved in this…

"What was that?" Gezie asked curiously, not catching what he said.

"N-Nothing!" He said quickly, pulling her into the booth. There was a moment where she simply blinked at him out of curiosity. Avi was silent, staring back awkwardly. He needed to fiddle with something but he left all his inventing supplies back at the school. Why, oh, why was he so awkward?

"So...How's school?" Avi asked, cringing a bit at how uncomfortable this night out was seeming.

Gezie gave him a look, arching a brow. "Really? Are we just going to ignore what happened today?" She deadpanned.

"I mean, I didn't want to be the one to bring it up, but if you'd like to discuss it...sure?" He shrugged haplessly, a little wary to tread into the topic. "So...Are you okay?"

Gezie gave him a dry look, blinking once. Avi could almost read her thoughts. "Okay, okay! Stupid question, I get it. But...are you going to _be_ okay?"

At this, the girl's gaze seemed to fall on the table as she fiddled with the sleeve of her shirt. She almost seemed to be apprehensive about answering this question, and it made Avi a little nervous for how she would take other questions he posed. He'd have to be careful not to tread too far.

"I hope so," she mumbled.

"No," Avi said firmly, shaking his head. "No. Not if you hope so. Give me a concrete answer. If you don't talk, the breakdowns are going to keep happening. I don't want them to keep happening. I want you to be _happy_ , Gez."

She set her lips in a thin, hard line as she pondered Avi's words. He didn't need to be a telepath to know that she was seeing the logic of what he was saying, and she conceded with a nod. "Fine. I...Don't know who to trust anymore. I don't know if there's anyone I _can_ trust at this point It just makes me feel so...Hopeless and alone, if you don't think it's cliche. And I love you guys a lot, and I _want_ to trust you, but I'm supposed to look after myself too and—"

She glanced up at his face during her tangent, and noticed the shock on Avi's face. The words died on her tongue.

"Gezie. You have no fucking reason to trust any one of us." Avi finally spoke, making the girl furrow her brows in surprise. "We've all lied so much, we've held so much back. It's perfectly fine not to trust anyone, if anything, it's probably better you don't. You have to start looking out for yourself."

"Avi…Why do you care? Why? You lied to this team, you lied to my face. Why do you care?" Gezie croaked, staring blankly at the table.

Why _did_ he care, Avi wondered to himself. Gezie was his friend, but that didn't mean he couldn't just block out his guilt like he did foreverythign else. Sure, he would feel bad, but he could just try to make himself _not_ care, like he did when he was creating those weapons. Maybe he was selfish in that way, maybe he was just protecting himself.

Avi looked up to his friend, realizing he had been wrapped up in himself, and the guilt set in. How could he hurt someone as kind, sweet, brilliant and beautiful as Gezie—

Avi stopped himself. Beautiful?

He knew he found Gezella Leclerc to be very interesting, but the level of attractiveness he found her at now was a little startling. He liked her, he realized, answering the questioning of his feelings. He truly liked her. And Avi Redhawk, dusting the self-doubt from his mind, embraced it. Not wholeheartedly, but he embraced it.

"Because, Gez. You're one of the most brilliant and amazing people I've met on this planet. How could I not care?" The teen answered truthfully, his heart drumming away in his chest.

There was a brief pause as their eyes met.

The corners of her lips turned upwards ever so slightly. "You mean that?"

The adrenaline must have been really surging, because Avi decided to reach across the diner table and squeeze her hand, only vaguely aware of how sweaty his palms were. "I mean it."

Another round of silence. "...Thank you."

 **.x.X.x.**

 **Well, hello! 'Tis the Fangirls!**

 **We know most of you— well, all of you were not expecting this since we told no one about this development, but here it is! A Special Episode! Basically, in the time Avi was looking after Gezie, they went out to dinner and talked about stuff! What stuff, you may ask? Well, basically, Avi was just being a good friend and discussing her mental health. Oh yeah, and he kinda likes her now.**

 **Ooooooh interesting romance development. Wonder where this will lead… a beautiful relationship? Or horrible heartbreak?**

 **If you know the Fangirls, nothing is as it seems. And Season 3 premiere will prove that**

 **Sorry for the wait, guys, but High School is in full swing and some of your favorite writers(us) are dying just a little bit. Until maybe October-November, updates will be nonexistent due to another writing competition and sports. We apologize, but that's the way its gotta be.**

 **Anyways, we know this chapter is super short, but it totally sets us up for next chapter. Because buckle up, buttercups, shit is going to go down. Majorly down.**

 **Thank you for all the lovely reviews! We love all of you and your kind words. Remember: reviews encourage us and motivate us!**

 **We hope you enjoyed!**

 _ **~The Fangirls**_


	22. S3, Episode 1: Rise

**.**

 **How Far We've Fallen**

 **.x.x.x.x.x.**

 **Season 3, Episode 1**

 _~The YoungJusticeFangirls~_

 **The Academy, Alpha Dorms**

 **January 1st, 01:00 A.M. EST** **2022**

" _Happy New Year!"_

Happy was a bit of an overstatement, but it was indeed a new year. A new year was supposed to represent a fresh start to most; a chance to do things over and forget about the mistakes of the past.

Carla O'Connell figured no one in this room would be able to forget their mistakes of the past or gain a fresh start. Too much had happened already, and there was too much still to come.

The druidess was watching the ball drop on the television with a strange fascination, her sparkling cider sitting untouched before her. Watching the celebration seemed like such a normal thing to do at a school for super-powered kids, one where not many of them made it out alive. Carla's eyes swept over her teammates— or, what was left of her team. Ever since the Infiltration mission at Cadmus a couple months ago, they had been hanging by a thread.

Julia and Ana giggled loudly together in the kitchen as they attempted to decorate cookies.

"I'm pretty sure my three-year-old cousin could make something that looks better than that!" Ana pointed to a very deformed sugar cookie and licked pink frosting off her fingertips.

Julia scoffed, rolling her eyes, "Obviously, you can't appreciate my art! It's an edible replica of Starry, Starry Night— "

"Edible? This doesn't look edible. The frosting is _grey_."

Carla tuned out the rest of their bickering and turned her attention to Gezie, who gazed out the window numbly. She trailed her pinky over her wrist, the ink swirling around on her skin. Lately, Gezie had been quieter, more serious, more detached.

Out of the corner of her eye, Carla watched as Ana shot Gezie a wistful gaze. Wistful. That was the way their relationship was now; it was quite obvious that Ana thought of her friend as something more. Carla didn't know whether the other girl felt the same, as she'd been focused on more important things. Like Roman Polaris.

He rarely was in the same room with the team anymore, often going out as a vigilante to hunt more of the Light of the Justice. It was a good thing because the team— especially Julia— couldn't stand to be around him.

On the couch, Lediv flicked through channels boredly as Raven chugged a bottle of sparkling cider.

"I-I don't think that's very healthy, Raven," Travis chuckled, watching his friend to struggle to finish the whole thing in one gulp.

"Exactly why you should keep going," Lediv chuckled, sparing a glance to the younger boy. "You're almost there."

Lediv gave a passing glance to the television, arching an eyebrow at what he had landed on. "Hey, take a look at this! Looks like our guy Chip is finally on trial!"

Interest piqued, Carla turned back to the television. Images of Chip, disheveled and horribly scarred from his battle with Roman, flashed across the screen along with pictures of the Alpha Team, proclaiming them heroes from stopping a terrorist attack.

After the battle, Julia had been able to lie well enough to the authorities to make it appear as there was a terrorist attack made by the Light of Justice. In the end, it had worked out; the LoJ was hunted down, disbanded, and its leaders were now on trial. Although Luthor's operations were still covered, something interesting happened to the Alpha Team: they were hailed as national heroes.

As the faces of the Academy, Luthor naturally (though begrudgingly, as Travis told them) took credit for their thwarting of the plans. He booked them press conferences, photo shoots, interviews— the entire team were celebrities.

The spotlight was strange, but Carla knew it offered Luthor some advantages: now the Team wasn't as covert, thereby hindering their usually secret operations. Missions would be tougher to hide now. Thankfully, things had been quiet around the Academy with the LoJ dissolved.

Carla knew they were caught in a web, but she knew the team had won against Luthor. For now.

 **.x.X.x.**

 **The Academy, Alpha Dorms**

 **January 1st, 01:30 A.M. EST** **2022**

The wheel chair rattled ominously as Avi rolled down the hall.

"We're going to have to get a better chair for you," Jack grunted, examining one of the wheels. He would have suggest Avi make one, but in his current state, the mechanic couldn't do much of anything except curse his survival. "Maybe Travis could make one if you design it."

"He's blind and I'm deaf in an ear. That's a bad combination," Avi Redhawk scoffed, tilting his good ear towards the older boy to hear better. Everything on his left sounded muffled, almost inaudible. The last thing he had heard from it was the scream of the missle that had taken an arm and his right leg.

Jack swallowed, his eyes flicking to the stump of his arm guiltily. "Right. Well. Let's get going, huh?" He pushed open the door to Avi's former dorm, and rolled the teen inside.

Immediately, it was like his arrival shut down the party. Julia and Ana's bickering faltered across the room, Raven paused, a bottle of cider against his lips. Carla stared at him, eyes wide. Only Travis hadn't paused his merriment, blind and unable to truly see the extent of Avi's injuries.

Burns stretched across every inch of his skin, his brown hair was cut short but growing back, his arm and leg were entirely gone. It was hard for his teammates not to stare at what Leon Coal's missile launcher did to him.

Avi was alive for one reason: Jack. During the battle, the boy had tried to take the hit of the missle. Being enhanced by Luthor gave him more durability. Sure, he suffered severe burns across his body, but he was intact. He had shielded Avi, and now he was his guardian.

In the weeks following his near death, Jack was his protector, teaching him to cope with disability. He felt so much closer to the other boy, and now they were practically best friends. They shared the mutual understanding of how much the fire hurt.

"Avi?" Raven grinned excitedly. "I didn't know you were coming!"

"I didn't know I was coming either. He," Avi jerked scoffed to his stoic teammate, "made me."

"Good thing, too. We missed you," Carla called from across the room, her blue eyes softening as they stayed on Jack.

Jack's gaze flicked to him, looking for conformation he'd be alright on his own. He nodded gingerly, so not to cause any pain to himself, and Jack made a beeline for the druidess, the corners of his lips peeking up.

Avi didn't pay much attention to Jack and Carla across the room, instead, he focused his gaze on Gezella Leclerc, who sat at the edge of the team's giant couch.

"Hi," she offered a quiet wave, giving him a small smile. "How are you feeling?"

He had expected Gezie to look pretty tonight, but pretty was an understatement. She looked amazing tonight; her blonde hair rested down her back in curls, she simply wore a sweatshirt and some jeans, and a teensy bit of pink lipgloss. Pretty girls usually made him nervous, but stunning girls? Oh, they wrecked him.

"I, uh, I feel a lot better. Still missing an arm," he lifted his stump haplessly, as if to wave. Gezie let out a giggle at the wave, but soon masked it with a cough. Avi didn't care what she was laughing at, just that she was smiling. She didn't smile nearly enough anymore.

"Hey, Gez? Mind if we talk?" Ana called as she approached the pair, gesturing to the hallway by the bedrooms. Her blue eyes flicked between the pair cautiously. Was Ana...nervous?

Gezie's thin lips set in a frown. "Sure, let's go." She bounced up from her seat and followed Ana to the hallway.

Avi watched the girls retreat out of view into the hall, feeling a bit disappointed. He had especially wanted to talk with Gezie since he hadn't gotten to see her much since his near death. He had surgery after surgery, complication after complication that kept him away from her. Although, all that time in the hospital had given him some time to really contemplate those complicated feelings. Avi knew it was probably wrong, but he knew he was very, very into Gezella. And Jack convinced him that tonight was the best night to start telling her how he felt.

After all, who knew if Avi or Gezie would be living any longer? Their job was so dangerous, and they had so many enemies, that anything could happen.

The teen began to roll forward, slowly, using his only arm. He was still quite weak from the burns and the injuries, but he was getting better at maneuvering his way around. It took him quite a bit to get started, but he was soon rolling down the hall.

Avi spotted Gezie and Ana speaking softly to each other by the front door, their words inaudible. He couldn't tell what was going on, but it looked serious, judging from the look in both the girl's eyes. The way Ana acted around her best friend was also unusual. Was she...Nervous?

And that was when he saw it. The look. The same look he got around Gezella Leclerc. Avi's heart sunk as Ana leaned in, pressing a long kiss to Gezie's lips. The other girl looked shocked, but didn't pull away.

Avi simply watched, speechless. He was too late. Ana felt the same way he did, and she had already made a move. Now it became apparent; hwy Ana had always been so protective, why she had always helped Gezie with research or fighting. She had been falling in love with her, like Avi seemed to be nonexistent in that hallway.

"A-Avi?" Gezie stuttered, now seeing the mechanic for the first time. Horror became apparent on her face.

"Oh, shit…" Ana cussed softly, her cheeks flushed as her eyes flicked between Avi and Gezie. "I-I didn't know you were there— "

"Save it," he scoffed, quickly turning his chair around from the pair. He had to get out of there. Now. He couldn't watch any more of it.

Gezie swallowed once, watching her friend retreat to his former team. She couldn't watch any more of it. "I-I'm sorry," she whispered to Ana, unsure of what to say, unsure of what to feel. And she quickly wrenched open the front door, escaping into the hall of the school.

Ana Holmes stood in the hall for a moment, watching the girl she loved run away from her. Resting her head against the wall, a small sigh escaped her.

 **.x.X.x.**

 **The Academy, Alpha Dorms**

 **January 1st, 09:00 A.M. EST** **2022**

Gezie stared at her soggy bowl of cheerios, swirling it listlessly a few times. She was too tired to get up and get something else to eat. Besides, she didn't have an appetite after last night.

"Better eat up, Gez. You have a long day ahead of you. I overheard from Genevieve that Luthor scheduled another photoshoot." A voice chimed from the kitchen. Lediv padded out with his own bowl of Cheerios, sitting down across from her at the table.

Gezie watched him emotionlessly. Since he'd joined the team, he had avoiding the team, mostly only speaking to Travis or Raven on occasion. Usually, though, Lediv was so silent that he became virtually unnoticeable when in the room with everyone.

Naturally, it made her uneasy. She didn't like that he just observed their behavior, like he was studying them. He didn't even try to fit in— unless there was something he wanted. A favor, an answer, the odd request here and there.

So what could he want now?

"Joy. What do you want from me?" she asked bluntly, rather put off by whatever game he was playing. After last night, being pleasant and kind to those around her was far away from her mind.

"Want?" Lediv echoed as he furrowed his brows. "I don't _want_ anything from you. What could I possibly want?"

"Don't play games with me. I know you only talk to us when its convienent," she scoffed. "What? You want to be in the photoshoot with me? You want a slice of this damn fame?" the girl gestured to a stack of magazines on the far end of the table. A few of them had her face on the cover. Gezie didn't want the fame, the shoots, the interviews. She wanted to save lives; she didn't care if Lediv wanted the fame, he could have it.

Lediv's mouth opened and closed a few times; he appeared unsure of what to say. "Gez...You honestly think I'm _that_ selfish? You're my leader, and...we all know what happened a couple months ago. You can't hide it. I…" he paused, as if he was genuinely searching her face to see if she believed him. "I want to support you. I want to help you through this transition. Isn't that what teammates are for?"

"Yeah, teammates Lediv," Gezie sighed, feeling like a Jane Austen protagonist, "You may be on the team, but you're not trying to support anyone. You just like to use this to your advantage. I may be broken, but you're the true fool out of the two of us if you think I'm dumb."

Lediv looked slightly taken aback. Putting his hand over his heart he shook his head, smiling lightly, "Oh my, my, my. Dear leader, is that what you think of me? A leech, simply hanging to the team? I see, on your assistance I'll try even harder to be...friendly, with everyone. I'll try to blend more. Forgive my...inability to be social, and fit right in."

"You've had plenty of chances to earn our trust," Gezie snapped back, rolling her eyes. "And besides— "

"You people are so damn secretive and paranoid, you distrust anyone who tries to even inch close to your circle. I couldn't fit in if I tried." Lediv rebutted, shoving a mouthful of cereal into his mouth. "But you know what?I'm still going to do my best and support my team, even if you'd leave me out to dry in a heartbeat, Gez." He stood up, chair scraping against the floor. "You should get going. Best not to draw anymore attention from Luthor to yourself."

Lediv grabbed his bowl, giving Gezie an icy stare before heading into the kitchen.

She watched him warily, unsure of what to make of this meeting. Did she want to trust him? Or not? He was right, Gezie was much more paranoid now that she'd survived half a year at this school. But could she trust Lediv, who was wrapped in mystery and secrets? Who was she kidding? She couldn't even trust half of her own team, and that was the sad truth.

 **.x.X.x.**

 **Kat's Diner, Metropolis** **January 1st, 07:00 P.M. EST** **2022**

The door to the diner creaked open as Travis breathed a sigh of relief when he stepped inside, warm air hitting his face immediately. On cold, blustery days like today, warm diners that smelled of strawberry pie were well appreciated.

Travis was on his own mission, one to get some of his teammates' favorite greasy food. Gezie was in a horrible mood from her photoshoot that had lasted hours on end and Julia wasn't home to make her any of her favorite food. He thought he would do something nice and buy his leader some pie. Walking up to the register, Travis smiled politely to the woman. She was grumpy; a red color clouded his vision, and he could feel how annoyed she was at some of the customers who were rude and obnoxious.

"O-Order for Travis White, p-please."

"Strawberry pie?" the elderly woman scoffed, giving him an inquisitive look.

"Y-Yes, please. And may I have a hot chocolate too? It's kinda cold out," he requested.

"What did you expect? It's January, kid." she rolled her eyes, heading back to the kitchen with the order. "Pick a seat and it'll be out soon."

Travis said a quick 'thanks' to her, then grabbed a seat by the windows, fiddling with his coat jacket. He pulled a tablet out of his backpack; if he was going to be waiting, he might as well do something.

After a minute or two, someone set a mug in front of him, and he looked up. "Thank you!" the boy said quickly, but paused. The emotions...they were from a very familiar person, but he couldn't decipher who they were from.

"I'm sorry, do I… Know you?"

"You should."

The voice jogged his memory.

Images, from a time when he had his sight, began to fill his mind. The main one was of a tall woman with porcelain skin, and jet black hair cut into a neat bob. It was hazy, faded, but still present in his mind.

"Don't you remember me?"

It wasn't hard to place the name to the face.

"Mom?" There was no stutter attached to Travis' words. He was convinced; the woman that belonged to the voice was Haru Akiyama, his mother.

"Travis," she breathed, soft, but had a tinge of affection buried under layers of professional demeanor.

"What are you doing here? How? You left when I was little," his words sped up, turning to accusations. Travis had never really been angry in his life, usually a kind and caring boy, but his mother owed him answers. She left him, left him to his father, his step mother, and Luthor. His mother owed him answers.

"I don't have time to answer those questions." And any shred of a mother in Haru was gone. She was back to business as always. "I...I have a message for you. I'm not supposed to do this, Travis, but you and your team are in danger."

"I _know_ that. We all almost died at that attack on the docks—"

"No, that's not what I mean. That assassin that almost killed Avi? He's not over with you guys. There's a whole team of assassins assigned to kill all of you. Luthor has arranged your deaths." Haru snapped, her hand curling around the wooden table. Travis could hear the wood splintering under his mother's grip. "You don't stand a chance. Your team has to leave the Academy before they're all dead, are we clear?"

"Who's going to be around to stop Luthor? He's shady, dangerous, selfish. He was going to sell weapons to Queen Bee! We have to protect the citizens and the public before it's too late!" Travis pleaded. He wasn't too surprised that Luthor hired assassins to take each of the Alpha Teamers out; after all, the team was messing with his plans.

"I know he did, Travis. But are you really going to risk your life for justice? And besides, you work for the man," Haru countered.

Travis' pale lavender eyes narrowed. "How? How did you know about that? It was top secret information."

"That I have access too," she shrugged casually. "Don't you know I've been working for the man since you were a little boy?"

His mouth dropped open. He knew his father had been entangled in Cadmus as a scientist, running dangerous experiments, but his mom? Is that who she ran away to? What had Haru Akiyama done after her time as a mother? Travis heard someone slide forward, placing their cold hand on his.

"This is your last warning. You must leave; your time is almost up. Luthor will stop at nothing to get what he wants." Haru let go of his hand, sliding out of the booth. She ruffled his hair gently, almost lovingly. "I don't want to have to kill you for him."

In shock, Travis didn't hear much as his mother walked away, heels clicking across the floor. His hot chocolate sat untouched in front of him.

 **.x.X.x.**

 **Cadmus, Metropolis**

 **January 1st, 11:00 P.M. EST** **2022**

Haru's nails tapped slowly against the table, careful not to dent it. The first time she had been in this room, she had splintered the table— accidentally using too much of her super strength. She was young back then, unsure of her capabilities. Now she understood how much power lay trapped beneath her fingertips. Luther had given her this power, but never told her how to wield it. That, he had left up to her.

"Good to see you, Agent H. How was Bialya?" Leon Coal asked cordially as he entered the room, taking a spot next to her.

"Queen Bee is an...Interesting woman." She was a bitch. Haru hated how she had to use her powers to command her armies and people; if she was truly a Queen, she could do it naturally. By her standards, Bee wasn't fit to rule. But Luthor had ordered Haru to assist her in perfecting Bee's army, so naturally, she couldn't refuse.

Leon chuckled. "That, I know. Annoying. I can't stand to be in the same room as her for more than two minutes."

"Because you're vulnerable to her power?" Haru arched a brow, pausing her tapping. "I mean, if you are attracted to her after all."

He grunted, "Perhaps." And said no more.

She chuckled under her breath; she had been right, after all. The door to Luthor's meeting room swung open, with Luthor strolling in casually, Mercy Graves following at his heels. Haru and Mercy shared an unspoken, loathing look. The pair had a long, convoluted history that would definitely affect how this mission would go— if they were paired together. Luthor hadn't paired them together for awhile, though, so it was unlikely he'd start now.

Following the two was a boy, with rather sharp and aesthetically pleasing features. The symmetrical beauty of the teen was rather startling for Haru Akiyama, and she bet he was probably one of the most perfect looking people she'd ever seen.

"Lediv, have a seat anywhere," Luthor sat at the head of the table.

Of course, Lediv Awbree was only perfect because he was grown in a test tube. Haru remembered what Luthor told her: Lediv was a combination of multiple cells, creating a super-attractive, super intelligent human. He was created for some part of Luthor's plan, one that wasn't revealed to her.

Lediv sat down next to Haru, spinning aimlessly as if he were already bored by this meeting; she could see the work RISE tattooed on his index finger from here. Yet another mysterious facet of the teen.

"We're going to get started. As you know, the Alpha Team has been quite busy over the past months. Getting into all sorts of trouble around Metropolis," Luthor began, pressing a button on his high-tech office chair. Video feed of the battle at the docks began to play, along with footage of Luthor's bomb being blown up over the sea. "While they may have disbanded the Light of Justice, who have been equally as annoying, they and the Beta Team are still threats to our operation."

Luthor shut off the feed, his eyes burning into Haru's "Threats need to be eliminated, before they...compromise our delicate agenda. That is why you're here—"

"To eliminate them. Fun." Lediv said casually, tracing the tattoo on his finger. "But couldn't we do something even more fun? Like turning them against each other! It would be _way_ more entertaining."

"May I remind you that what you consider fun is usually challenging?" Luthor scoffed, taking a sip of a glass of expensive vodka on the table. "I know you better than anyone else. I created you." Lediv simply stared, emotionless. He had nothing to say.

"I will let you decide who is to eliminate who, but the four of you must do it in a manner that does not place blame on the Academy. Are we clear?"

Four affirmatives resounded in the meeting room before Luthor gave a tight lipped smile, and left them to plan.

 **.x.X.x.**

 **The Academy, Alpha Dorms**

 **January 1st, 08:00 P.M. EST** **2022**

Travis stumbled into the dorm, clutching a plastic bag full of greasy food and delicious pie. It was irrelevant; he had no appetite anymore. He had just seen his mother, after almost twelve years, and she had just delivered a message. A terrifying message detailing how Lex Luthor wanted to kill his teammates.

He dropped the bag onto the the kitchen table, and sank down in a chair, running a hand through his light red hair.

"Oh, hey, Travis! I smell pie!" Julia laughed from behind him. He could hear her enter the room, sneakers padding across the floor. He didn't respond, thoughts whirling.

"...Travis? Buddy? What's wrong?"

Did he have to answer Julia? Could she even help? Perhaps, she _was_ one of the most realistic, most powerful, most skilled people on the team. Maybe she could help, after all, she had a rough family life too.

"I-I need your help with something. It's urgent."

 **.x.X.x.**

 **AN:**

 **There she is! A brand new season starter! This took us forever to start and finish, mainly because it was hard to get a feel for this new season and we have a very busy year started.**

 **Your beloved fangirls are gearing up for college and struggling with high school! Please, do be patient with this tough schedule. We will make updates as able!**

 **But for now, enjoy the season premiere! So, we start off at New Years, a few months after the last episode! Gezie is still dealing with the fallout of her mental breakdown, and it seems Avi and Jack both survived. But, our beloved mechanic has severe wounds and trauma. It seems he has finally accepted his feeling for Gezie that were established last season. But, Ana has too, making a tricky, tricky love triangle. Who will Gezie choose? Will she even choose? Will any of them live long enough to have a relationship?**

 **In the next scene, Lediv claims he only wants to support and help Gezie, and be a part of the team! Do you believe him?**

 **Next, it seems like Travis has a blast from the past! His biological mom, Haru Akiyama, has just showed up and given a warning! Luthor has a assembled a team to take them down! This seems to scare him, and he decides to enlist Julia at the end of the chapter for help!**

 **At the end, we get a taste of Haru's perspective as she details the meeting with Luthor and the villains! She shares some interesting, interesting information about LEdiv! Stay tuned, it's important.**

 **In other news, we have decided to change this story's rating to M. Not for any "intimate" scenes, but for some rather...intense scenes of violence. Not too intense, but still rather much for the teen rating. Nonetheless, this season will be very good, and we hope you enjoy!**

 **Review and tell us how you liked the chapter. See you next update, and happy Holidays!**

 _ **~The Fangirls**_

 **Questions:**

 **1.** **What do you think about what you learned about Lediv this chapter?**

 **2\. Who do you think Gezie will choose?**

 **3\. Who do you want your OC to end up with?**


	23. S3, Episode 2: Fight

**.**

 **How Far We've Fallen**

 **.x.x.x.x.x.**

 **Season 3, Episode 2**

 _~The YoungJusticeFangirls~_

 **The Academy, Cafeteria**

 **January 4th, 12:00 P.M.** **EST**

**2022**

"Well, fuck."

That seemed to be the mood of the year, and they were only four days into it, Julia sarcastically thought to herself. She arched a brow at David, who stared at his carton of milk in rumination. The artist's face was contorted in a mixture of emotions, most of them not too happy.

"So, what I got from that explanation is that Luthor organized his own team to eliminate your team?" David rubbed his temples; the teen wasn't too happy at this new turn of events, considering he had a hard geometry test today. Just after he got over one headache, he had to go through another.

Travis nodded solemnly. "My mom didn't give any information as to when this was happening, but...She sounded urgent."

Julia remained quiet, picking at the salad on her lunch tray. Glancing around the cafeteria, she kept her eyes open for anyone who might be eavesdropping. The conversation was for sensitive ears only, and she knew all too well that this school probably had a host of spies— her included.

"Another thing— your mom just dropped out of thin air? After almost twelve years? Doesn't the timing seem a little too...convenient to you, Trav?" David questioned further, his lips set into a frown. He glanced at Julia, elbowing her lightly to pull her back to the conversation. "What do you think?"

Julia ran her fingers through her short hair, nose scrunching in contemplation. "David, you bring up a good point. Haru warning us to quit right when Luthor needs it the most? Super fishy. But...can we really ignore the warning at this point?"

Travis and David exchanged a brief, worried look.

"What I mean is, our numbers have dwindled. Avi is out for the count, Roman has gone rogue, Gezie is dealing with her mental issues, and Trav can't even fight. Half our team is either out or severely impaired. I don't think we can afford to ignore her warning. We've gotten lucky, with the attacks, the toxin, and Avi's close call. What if… We don't this time?"

Julia stared at an untouched sugar cookie on her tray. Her stomach flipped from the gravity of what was happening; it didn't seem like they had any other options right now, and they certainly didn't have the time to find any more. She looked up at David and Travis, and was assured to know they too understood what was happening, judging by the wary and fearful looks in their eyes.

"So...This is it, then. The Alpha Team's end is at our hands," David murmured. "I take it we'll bring it down with infighting? Rumors and the like?" Julia nodded in response. It was the only sure way to do it. Alone, her teammates were beatable. Together...Only Superman could have destroyed them.

He glanced up at her, "I only have one question. Why involve me in this? Wouldn't this be better suited for someone else on your team?"

Julia shook her head, "No, I don't trust many people on our team. And besides, it would be nice to have an outsider helping us."

David nodded his head in affirmation just as the bell rang. The trio exchanged glanced before Julia sighed, standing up. "Nothing left to do but get to work."

 **The Academy, Library**

 **January 4th, 12:00 P.M.** **EST**

**2022**

A line of drool dripped from Gezie's mouth onto the brightly colored pages of an astronomy book. Normally, she would be mortified that her slobber was drying on the pages of a library book in public, but the girl was too tired to care now.

The corners of Ana Holmes' lips turned upwards as she spotted her best friend upon entering the library, a plate of warm strawberry pie in hand. Gezie looked so peaceful, her golden curls splayed delicately across the table. It was the calmest and most peaceful she had seen her in a while.

Ana walked over to the table, setting down the plate of strawberry pie. She slowly pulled the astronomy book out from under her face. Gezie's head snapped up with a start and she grabbed Ana's wrist, twisting it and pinning it down on the table.

"Ah!" she gasped, eyes wide in shock. "Damn, Gez! You've got some reflexes! Let go, would you?"

"S-Sorry, sorry," she promptly released her wrist, rubbing at her eyes. "Did I…?"

"Yeah. You were drooling on your textbook," Ana snorted, holding up the slightly soggy book. "What class is this even for anyways?"

Gezie shook her head. "Not for a class. I just like stargazing." Squinting at the book, her eyes flashed in realization. "I drooled? On a _library book_?"

"Insomnia keeping you up?"

"As always." It was well known the teen had a sleep condition that prevented her from getting a good night's rest. She had just been so tired lately, worrying about Avi's injuries and Roman in general.

"Well, we were making pie in Home Economics...I thought you might want some. It's strawberry, your favorite kind." She pushed the plate towards the girl.

Gezie stared at the steam wafting off the pastry like it held the secret of life. "Ana...Why? I-Is this just you trying to bribe me after New Years? You're just trying to kiss up to me, right?" she whispered in horror, her blue eyes flashing in rage. "Well, it's not working! I don't want a lover or a girlfriend or whatever! All I wanted was a friend to support me!"

"Gezie! Stop! That's not what I—"

"No! Everyone here has this ulterior motive behind what they do with me, a-and with you...I thought with every moment we shared, you just wanted to be my friend. Now I know you just wanted something more," she shouted, scrambling up from her seat at the table. A few people in the library hushed, but she didn't even notice.

"Gezie, my intent was never to hurt you like this! Honestly, I didn't even know I had these feelings until a couple months ago when I was so close to losing you!" Ana argued, desperation leaking through her words. "I just wanted to be friends when we met! But you _cannot_ blame me for falling in love with you! It was impossible not to, you have to understand—"

"I just want someone here who's genuine and who will support me!"

"I have _always_ been genuine and I have _always_ supported you! And being in a relationship wouldn't prevent me from both of those things," she pleaded, lip trembling. God, this was why Ana never let herself love anyone. It never worked out and just caused more pain for her.

Gezie was at a loss for words at this point. Ana was right; she had never betrayed her, lied to her, hurt her as most people at this school did. But why would Ana ever want her? Simply, Gezie was a mess. Paranoid, exhausted, weary— she was everything a leader wasn't supposed to be. Yet, her team was still alive. That had to count for something, right?

"Ana, why would you ever want me? You're an amazing person, and honestly...You could do a lot better."

She blinked a few times, trying to process what Gezie was implying. "Are you serious? Have you looked in the mirror lately? You're beautiful, absolutely stunning! Not only that, you're strong, independent, and smart. You're a great leader. And-and every time I see you my heart skips a beat because just being near you feels like...some sort of honor." Her voice dropped to a whisper as her eyes landed on her shoes. Biting her lip, Ana was unsure of what to do. Keep pushing for a relationship that would be unhealthy? Or just let it go? Even if Gezie saw Ana's point, their relationship would be filled with doubt. It...Just wasn't worth it.

"Gez...I'm done. I'm sorry. I'll let it be, okay?" she exhaled, taking an unsure step back.

"Wait, what?"

"You heard me. I'm going to be whatever you need. And you've made it clear that you just need a friend," Ana said softly, her face betraying a lot of her disappointed emotion. She was stupid to ever think it could work out between them. It was all just stupid. "So...I'll just...Talk to you later."

It trailed off into a mumble as she walked away briskly.

"Ana, come on, wait…" Gez started after her but sighed as her best friend slipped through the doors. Both of them needed some alone time. As she looked back to the cooling pie, she figured alone time would at least be better with sweets to drown her sorrows.

 **The Academy, Football Fields**

 **January 4th, 3:00 PM**

 **2022**

The rain drizzled down, cold and wet, matting Lediv's brown hair to his forehead. It had been raining all day. Not cold enough for snow yet, but still cold in Metropolis.

The football fields were empty nowadays; it was too cold for sports practices and too cold for training. But it was perfect for secret on time, at three o'clock, Harvard began to walk up the bleachers to where Lediv sat. Mr. Jasper hardly looked bothered by the rain, probably from his training in the army. Everyone who worked with Luthor knew Harvard Jasper went through some heavy, heavy shit. No one had the guts to ask. Someday Lediv would, but not today. Today he was all business.

"Hello, Harvard."

The man grunted out a greeting.

"Do you have what I need?"

Harvard arched a brow. "Is that a hint of apprehension, I hear?"

Lediv scoffed, "It's very sensitive and important information. I'll always be apprehensive when I feel like you are incapable of retrieving it."

"Oh, you doubt me, huh?" Harvard challenged dryly. There was no passion or real anger behind his words, almost like he didn't even need to confirm that Lediv was just insulting him.

"You should always doubt your partners. The only way to get something done is to do it yourself."

"Fair point," Harvard conceded. Lediv always knew how to smooth talk his way out of anything, even though his little aphorism was true. "Now, do you want your intel or not?"

"Of course," Lediv answered a bit more cheerfully as he was handed a thick manila envelope. He slipped out a few pieces of paper, rifling through them as a slow smile spread on his face. Gezie, Jack, Julia, Roman— they were all here. "This is very, very useful, Harvard. Well done!" he commended the combat teacher. In his hands, he held every weakness and known power of the Alpha and Beta team; he had all of their backgrounds, family, known residences. It would almost be impossible for Luthor's team to fail now.

As he flipped through their files, a noticeable name was missing. One that stirred up some curiosity in Lediv.

"What happened to Kian?"

"Huh?"

"Kian Collins," Lediv turned to the man, his golden eyes glittering with curiosity. "The student who I alerted you of when he got a bit too close to the truth for comfort? Of course, he disappeared, but I never found out about him."

"That's because we know how to keep a secret. Unlike you," Harvard commented offhandedly. A bit of an insult, just to knock the cocky teen down a notch. "The rumor going around the Academy is that he transferred to another school due to the rigor of his classwork. But, the truth is Luthor didn't want to take any chances. I fabricated a story about how he was killed in a training mission gone wrong and sent it off to his parents. The whole thing went off without a hitch."

So, the academy had been killing students long before Luthor even created his team of assassins. Of course, he probably couldn't have the whole alpha team "disappear" like Kian. So how would he cover up their deaths? If Lediv knew Luthor, it would probably be a cover-up. They'd assassinate each of the teens, but have them "die" in a big accident. Perhaps an explosion, like one they orchestrated only years before with the Justice League's proteges.

"Well, Harvard, you delivered. I'm pleased with what you've brought," the teen offered a rare smile to the teacher. "I thought getting this amount of information in such a short span of time would be difficult—"

"I have a lot of experience," he interjected, pulling out his flask and unscrewing it. "Army teaches you a lot. Working for Luthor teaches you even more."

"You probably gathered intel for him, right?" Lediv began to stuff papers back into the manila envelope and then shoved it in his backpack. He wasn't too interested in backstories generally, but Harvard was an intriguing man. A crass, rude alcoholic that had one of the top positions in the school— how had he worked his way up to such a successful spot in such a short amount of time? The man probably had no teaching experience; he wasn't even thirty!

"Nope," Harvard said bluntly, making a popping sound with his lips. "I handled his experiments. My power allows me to. I've worked with the strongest creatures on earth. Hell, I even handled Chip Canly, and he was a _pain_ in the ass." The pair began to walk down the bleachers as the rain began to slow. "Lex figured that since my power could handle his most dangerous experiments, I could take on his students. Thus, here I am."

Lediv remained silent, his golden eyes narrowed. He wanted to dig deeper, find out more about such an enigmatic man. What were his experiments like? From the story Chip told in the jet a few months ago, Lediv knew that fucked up things happened inside of Cadmus. Yet, why wasn't Harvard bothered? If he didn't know any better, he'd say the man was psychotic.

Or, he was driven. Like Lediv.

"I think we'll get along," the teen finally decided out loud. Harvard nodded in acknowledgment; this wasn't anything new to him. They were alike, very alike indeed.

 **Metropolis City Greenhouse**

 **January 4th, 3:00 P.M. EST**

**2022**

"Why are we here?"

Zatanna glanced back at the druidess, rolling her icy blue eyes. "I thought you told me you trusted me."

"That was _before_ you took me to a greenhouse for training," she pointed to a sign above the building. "This place is for little kids—"

"Well, you _are_ a kid. So I guess we came to the right spot. Try to keep up, will you?"

Carla decided now was a good time to shut up. She had one of the greatest magicians in the world offering to teach her complicated and powerful magic. She didn't want to seem like a know-it-all or an unteachable brat.

The pair walked through the warm and cozy lobby, and Zatanna— still disguised as Mary— handed a wad of cash to an attendant. Two tickets later, the pair walked through the metal doors into a steamy greenhouse full of exotic flora from floor to ceiling.

"I forgot how pretty these places are," Zatanna muttered to herself, now thankful her platinum blonde hair was tied into a braid. Lush green ferns dusted the floor; tall palm trees stretched towards the ceiling; sunlight filtered through the tinted glass, sparkling on the ponds.

Carla nodded mutely, her blue eyes roaming over the plants.

"So, you're wondering why I brought you here to practice, huh?" Zatanna turned back to her, smirking. "You're a druidess. Your powers stem from nature on the basic level, so what better place to practice than in nature? It's winter anyway, so this is the best place you'll get any flora."

"So...What do I do? Move vines around?" Carla asked awkwardly. This was the high-level magic they were getting into today? It seemed like mere parlor tricks compared to the things she'd heard Zatanna do.

Zatanna stared for a few seconds, they laughed loudly. "Good one, but no. You're going to summon fire, as much as you can."

"Should I really be doing that in a room full of exotic, expensive plants?"

"See, that's the point of this. We're going to practice control. You'll attack me with your fire, and," Zatanna paused, her icy blue eyes flaring gold. " _Nommus eht seniv!"_

Hundreds of vines burst through the concrete floor, snaking around Carla. "Don't worry, I disabled the cameras before we came in here," she winked.

Carla jumped back in surprise, instincts taking over. She put her hands out, evening her breath, and summoned as much fire as she could. She got a few sputters of a fireball, but not enough to really do damage.

"Use your big girl words, Carla!" The magician taunted from across the room.

" _Nommus erif_!" the druidess shouted back. A torrent of flame spilled from her hands, propelling her back into the concrete wall. Carla slid down to the ground with a tired groan.

The vines stopped their attack, coiling together aimlessly. "See? That's why we need to practice control. Not enough power, and you won't do any damage. Too much and you'll end up hurting yourself and your teammates. Now, go again."

Carla scrambled to her feet, catching her breath. A vine shot out towards her wrist, but her reflexes were faster. Carla snatched the vine tight, summoning fire, and searing it through.

"Fancy. Where'd you learn that one?" Zatanna raised a brow, smiling wolfishly. "Jack?"

"Maybe." Heat rose to her face in waves. She instantly regretted it, though.

"Just pretend you're protecting him. It'll make summoning a lot easier," the older girl laughed, waggling her brows and flicking her wrists. Behind her, a tree's branches wrapped around her midsection and lifted her above the ground.

She summoned a large fireball, enough to burn off the branches that held her, but not enough to damage much else. As the branches that held her went up in flame, she dropped the ground, rolling to avoid another plant attack.

Carla knew she'd have to do something quick to end this; she couldn't dodge forever. Spotting the sparkling pond by the entrance, an idea popped into mind. " _tnerrot fo retaw!"_ The water began to bubble and roil until it spiraled into a vortex. Carla grinned at Zatanna's surprised expression, flicked her wrist forward, and watched with smug satisfaction as her mentor was thrown back by the sheer force and power of the torrent.

She stepped over muddy and soaked vines towards the sputtering blonde, enjoying her temporary defeat.

"Well," Zatanna coughed, wringing out her hair "It's a start."

 **The Academy, Alpha Dorm**

 **January 4th, 4:00 P.M. EST**

**2022**

The smell of fresh spices and savory meats floated through the dorm as Roman Polaris entered. Although it had only been about ten hours since he had left, the little place was beginning to feel more and more foreign. It was probably just him changing, not the dorm. Some days, Roman could barely recognize the things he did. Yet, they just felt so _natural._

Soft jazz music came from a stereo by the door. Roman swiftly— and more violently— unplugged the machine. He hated jazz. It was so...calming.

"Hey!" A voice shouted at him. "What gives?"

Raven Arisato poked his head out of the kitchen, then his eyes quickly widened at seeing their estranged teammate.

"I give," Roman said plainly yet coldly. He walked past someone, probably Julia, painting at an easel, and walked into the kitchen for a snack.

"I wouldn't go in there if I were you—"

Roman walked right past Raven, shoving him back a little with a glare. Somedays, he just couldn't help it. He was Roman the asshole; everyone thought of him like that so there was no point in trying to be anything else. It was like a self-fulfilling prophecy.

But once he walked into the kitchen, he saw what Raven was warning him of. Julia Rothschild stood at the stove, preparing dinner as she hummed an upbeat jazz tune. Immediately, as she saw him, her eyes turned a dark, dark color.

"You have _a lot_ of nerve," she hissed.

The pair had rarely interacted, talked, or even seen each other since that fateful day when he seared Chip's face to a crisp. It was for the best; they were both volatile and had unpredictable personalities. And, to make it worse, both once had feelings for the other— until Chip almost died at Roman's hand.

"And you...Don't have any," Roman scoffed. Raven shook his head quickly, mouthing warnings from across the room. "You don't scare me."

A ceramic jar by the door promptly exploded. Sugar spilled out onto the counter.

"Children, can we behave?" Jack deadpanned from the living room where he painted at the easel. To everyone's surprise, the teen was actually quite good at painting. He found it very enjoyable and calming, evening getting a few tips from Julia.

"The only child in here is her," Roman snorted. "She can't grow up and realize that sometimes bad things happen—"

"You were unnecessarily cruel! You _burned_ his face off! I have a right to be angry! You're not even a hero!" Julia yelled angrily, waving her spatula at him.

"And the Justice League sent _you_ here as a spy—"

"I rejected that offer—"

"And still hid it from us! You're a hypocrite!" Roman screamed in her face; the pair were now inches apart, and not in the way they once would have liked. It was dead silent in the dorm.

"Better a hypocrite than someone like you," Julia scoffed quietly, her eyes stony and cold.

Roman couldn't take it. Someone like him? Was she comparing him to the evil criminals they'd fought? He cleaned up the streets of Metropolis, protecting them from the Light of Justice as a vigilante! He wasn't a bad person just because he was an asshole...Was he?

And the comment that Julia made— the one that made _him_ question his own character— sent him over the edge.

He shoved her back on impulse, her t-shirt singing from the acid on his hands.

Instantly, her fist came up, ramming a right hook straight into his nose.

"Hey!" Raven shouted, trying to get in between the pair, but ended up getting thrown back into the fridge.

Jack entered the fray, tackling Roman to the floor and twisting his arm behind his back. "That's _enough._ Listen, I get that you have a temper, and you're going through a lot. But that doesn't excuse attacking Julia. Calm the fuck down. _Now."_

The pair tussled a bit on the floor, with Roman trying to get the upper hand. "Get the hell off poster boy! I'll knock your perfect teeth out!"

Jack scoffed in anger, only tightening his grip. "No. Julia, Raven, I think you guys should leave. Go...Pick out another Jazz CD for us to listen to."

Raven nodded as he grabbed Julia by the arm, letting her protest as they exited. Although she was annoyed to leave him alone, there was a relief to be leaving such a toxic situation for a brief moment of calm. Dealing with him was rather, well, exhausting. It was like babysitting a child; an angry, slightly psychotic child that probably wanted to kill her by now.

As soon as they left, Roman's icy glare turned to Jack; he began to realize, through his anger, that it was useless to fight. He forced himself to freeze, mentally counting to ten begrudgingly.

"Fine. I'm done. I just want to go back to my room now," he grunted, waiting impatiently to be let go.

Jack finally released him and stood up. "No. We have to talk—"

"What is there to say?"

"A lot," he snapped back, his blue eyes sparkling with a kind of rage and disappointment Roman had never seen before. Was Jack...becoming a dad? Was he trying to give him a parent talk? "Either listen to me or I will pound your face in. Got it? Good." Jack approached him, crossing his arms. "If you ever— and i mean ever— touch anyone on this team again, I will show no mercy next time. I can kill you. I _will_ kill you. Right now, you're barely a part of this team and you're still causing trouble. So whether you're about to punch Travis again or shove Julia, keep this talk in mind."

 **The Academy, Beta Dorm**

 **January 5th, 1:00 A.M. EST**

**2022**

The glow of the television illuminated the slice of pizza Phoebe Phantom was slowly eating. She had binged watched her favorite set of Kung Fu movies all day after school, a little reprieve from her hard work at school.

"Last one, Phoebe," she yawned rather loudly, her green eyes fluttering from sleepiness. "You..can do… it."

One second, her eyes shut. When they reopened, Phoebe saw the glint of a gun in the light of the T.V. Everything went downhill from there.

The teen gasped, diving to the floor just as the bullet struck the couch behind her head.

"Under attack, under attack! This is _not_ good," the girl muttered, crawling behind the sofa as another bullet whizzed over her head. Ana was out with Jace, probably getting cheered up after that meeting with Gezie. David was at an art exhibit in inner-metropolis and, well, that left her alone.

Phoebe noticed that there weren't any more bullets flying. Strangely, she noticed that the gun used wasn't making any sounds when fired, meaning...her attacker was using a silencer? Why? Oh man, she thought, she was under attack from an assassin!

Just as she was gathering her thoughts, a woman leaped over the back of the couch, flipping in front of her. Wearing a black, form-fitting suit that contrasted her porcelain skin, she looked absolutely terrifying.

"So, you're Phoebe Phantom. You don't look so impressive," she pursed her lips, narrowing her brown— almost black— almond shaped eyes. The woman pulled out a pair of escrima sticks from a hidden pocket in her suit, extending them.

Phoebe's mouth opened and closed in terror. _Think fast, think fast! Assassin! Deadly! Fight!_

Fight was the only thing she could do, she supposed. Phoebe lit up her palm with fire, her green eyes burning. She threw a flaming punch towards the woman, but in a split second, she seemed to be gone.

Phoebe grunted as a kick lodged itself in her lower back, slamming her into the wall so hard that she could have sworn her eyeballs were rattling inside her skull. She caught sight of a punch flying towards her face and— on a last minute thought— erupted her body in fire.

"Ah!" she screamed, her hand recoiling from the fresh burns. It gave Phoebe enough time to gather her thoughts, climbing to her feet.

"I'm not that easy. I have a few tricks up my sleeve, too."

And her whole body erupted in fire.

 **.x.X.x.**

 **Wooo! We knocked that bad boy out in less than a month! Don't be fooled, though, we owe it all to Winter break and a little extra incentive. Recently, a friend and reader of ours, Obie, announced he was going into the navy in a little story he made us! Here's the link:** **www. fanfiction s/ 13151465/1/ So-This-is-Christmas-A-X-Over-One-shot-of-SYOCs (remove spaces)**

 **He is going off mid-January, so we were determined to finish this chapter for him before then. Obie, man, we wish you much luck for your training period and your time in the navy! We know you'll do amazing, and we'll have plenty of action-packed chapters waiting for you when you return to the land of internet connection! So, this chapter is dedicated to you and all our lovely readers!**

 **Enough of the sentimental stuff, time for HFWF things! In this chapter, Travis has enlisted David and Julia to help with his mother's arrival and warning. They determine the only safe course of action is for the three of them to work together and split up the Alpha Team. Wonder how they'll do that… More secrets and lies? Perhaps! Next, we had a little scene of Gezie drooling on a library book that turned into a really awkward meeting between her and Ana. Wonder how their relationship is gonna change...stay tuned for an answer in the next chapter. After, we had a shady scene between Lediv and Harvard. It showed us that Harvard has done some bad things and feels no remorse for it… hmm, foreshadowing? Perhaps. More concerning, Lediv has files on the Alpha and Beta teams! All their known powers and weaknesses, right there in his hands! This certainly ought to give him a huge advantage throughout later episodes… In a cute (and less plot-heavy, thank god) scene, Zatanna is mentoring Carla! Do we sense our druidess becoming a protege... ? Perhaps! After that, Roman made his return to the dorm! And it was not a pleasant one. After a tense confrontation with Julia, then being held back by Jack, he was warned that the next time he would harm his teammates would be is last. Uh oh. We sense conflict approaching. And finally, a scene with Phoebe (after what seems like forever!). Apparently, she's being targeted by an assassin. Whoever could** _ **this**_ **be? And looks like, she's not going down without a fight!**

 **Okay, so this chapter was all over the place, ranging from cute to not-so-cute. We apologize if it seems a lot of things are happening at once, but that's just the way it is when you have over twenty characters (because this is an SYOC and we like to please our readers) and you have very convoluted plot lines. We'd also like to let you know that this story is about to get pretty dark. Recently, we looked over our story outline, and we noticed that there will be some pretty dark storylines happening. We think you all knew that from the fact that a group of assassins was hunting down our characters and some of the characters have trauma from the events. Although we don't purposefully make this story dark, we feel that it is the best creative decision for a story of this nature. It's a story that has themes revolving about secrecy, trust, and betrayal. So, this is just a heads up about future chapters.**

 **Anyways, sorry for that long AN, but we had so much to talk about!**

 **We hope you enjoyed this chapter, see you all soon! Please tell us your thoughts on this chapter and happy holidays!**

 _ **~The Fangirls**_

 **1\. Do you think Phoebe survived?**

 **2\. How do you think the team will be affected by Julia, Travis, and David working together to split it up?**

 **3\. Do you think Roman will act any differently from his interaction with Julia, Jack, and Raven today?**

 _Sneak Peek: "D-Did you just...Did you just kill Catori?"_


	24. S3, Episode 3: Awakening

.

 **How Far We've Fallen**

 **.x.x.x.x.x.**

 **Season 3, Episode 3**

 **~The YoungJusticeFangirls~**

 **The Academy, Mission Hall**

 **January 5th, 03:00 A.M. EST **

**2022**

Carla rubbed her bleary eyes as she tried to focus in on the screen in front of her. She was attempting to stay awake and failing hilariously, her eyelids growing heavy after only a few seconds. A sharp jab in her side promptly woke her up.

"What? I-I'm up!" she yawned, her eyes snapping open quickly.

Jack chuckled softly, low enough so their professor wouldn't hear. "I'm guessing three in the morning is a little early for you?"

"Listen, I can stay up late...I'm just…" Carla muttered, trying to come up with an excuse. She was so tired, though, that forming coherent sentences was a challenge. The druidess ended up shrugging for an excuse.

Jack chuckled in smug victory, "You're up way past your bedtime." He was used to waking up at odd hours in the night for various missions with Luthor. It had grown easier with time. The dangerous part was staving off the exhaustion; it could prove troublesome on a dangerous mission.

Harvard walked through the doors of the mission room as one of the younger professors tried to explain what they were supposed to do. He seemed nervous, a little new. Carla tried to listen in on what he was saying, but found she would tune him out in the matter of seconds.

"I'll take it from here, newbie." He pointed to the door, interrupting the nervous teacher.

"B-But Rashid sent me to—"

"You're doing a terrible job. Rashid may have sent you, but my job is to damage control things here, and your mission briefing obviously needs some of that," Harvard harshly barked to the man. "Now, go."

The professor immediately turned tail towards the door, and after the ominous click of the lock, there was an awkward silence.

"Now that the train-wreck has left us, let's talk." Harvard turned to them, studying the screen to see where the other teacher left off. "You four will be taking on a human trafficking ring. There is estimated to be a total of twenty children that need to be rescued on the edge of Metropolis, according to some of our stealth teams. The coordinates will be sent to you."

Harvard pulled up a map of the building. "We chose each of you specially for this mission: Carla, for your versatility in powers, Gezie, your leadership and defense abilities, Roman and Jack, for your strength of powers and fighting skills. You are expected to work _together_ ," he glared pointedly at Roman. "Understand?"

"I have a question," Gezie raised her hand. The leader had dark circles under her eyes and her hair was loosely tied back by a ribbon, but she was alert. "Why isn't the rest of the team here?"

"Well, Gezie, that's a question you should ask yourselves. Some of our professors have been noticing some animosity between certain members of your team, and felt for an operation as sensitive as this, we should leave a few people— who could be problematic— behind," Harvard answered, his dark eyes distinctly flicking to Roman.

Carla pursed her lips. So now Roman was preventing half her team from coming? Huh, interesting. Although she was frustrated at the fact, part of her knew it would be bad if Julia and Roman started fighting on this mission. Or Roman decided to bring up Travis' mole history up. Or if he got on Avi's case for making the weapons for Luthor. Actually, Carla realized, Roman was the problem in every single situation.

Her frown deepened and Jack noticed, shaking his head slowly. She could tell he was dissuading her from bringing the issue up.

"It'll only make this mission worse," he breathed.

"Alright, then," Gezie narrowed her light blue eyes, sighing in annoyance. "When do we leave?"

"Now. We don't have much time to operate. They could move the victims any day now," Harvard pulled out his flask, uncorking the top and taking a long drink. "You'll want to get a move on."

The team nodded, moving towards the door quickly.

"Oh, one more thing."

Gezie hesitated, glancing back at him warily.

"Lives are at stake here. Choose your actions carefully."

She softly snorted at his comment. Lives had been at stake from the moment she stepped on the Academy's campus.

 **Metropolis**

 **January 5th, 04:00 A.M. EST **

**2022**

Haru grunted softly as she hopped down from a fire escape, landing on the slick pavement of an alleyway. She wasn't exactly sure where she was, but she was certain it was still in Metropolis.

"We're not far enough away," she muttered to Leon as he landed on the ground next to her.

Leon waved his hand, dismissing her. "We're plenty far enough. You have to remember who controls this city, Haru," he smirked. Working for Lex Luthor had its benefits. It was incredibly hard to be arrested in a city controlled by the man he worked for.

"Right. I'm not worried about the cops; I'm worried about the heroes," Haru reminded him. Although Superman hadn't been seen in years, she didn't know when or where he might decide to show up again. And she didn't want it to be when she was on the job.

Leon rolled his eyes. "Fine, if it makes you feel better…" he slammed a foot into a nearby door, kicking it open. Peering inside, he nodded to her. "Come inside. I'll dress your wounds."

Haru had almost forgotten about that. Her wounds. She glanced down at her arms and legs, burnt from her recent fight with Phoebe. Nodding slowly, she walked inside the pitch black building, squinting to make out what was inside.

"It's a flower shop," she whispered in surprise, recognizing the sweet aroma of tulips and roses. No wonder there wasn't an alarm on the building. Who would steal from a flower shop? "Inconspicuous. Good choice," she complimented him.

Leon cracked the blinds slightly, allowing for moonlight to pour through the window while Haru shut the door. She wandered through the aisles, running her fingertips over soft rose petals. It was the little things that made her happy, like stopping to smell the roses while on the run from police and superheroes.

Leon went into the back of the shop, rummaging around for a first aid kit. He smirked as he pulled open a metal cabinet, finding a large roll of bandages inside a first aid box.

"Sit," he commanded, gesturing to the front counter.

"Don't tell me what to do, Leon," she grumbled, hopping up onto the counter with a wince.

Leon let out a little scoff, "If anything, you should be grateful I'm telling you what to do. That little girl almost had your head," he pointed out, placing a wet rag on her arm.

"So, I underestimated her. I won't do that with the others."

"And she was on the Beta team. You still have to kill the Alpha team. Jack, Julia, and Roman should prove quite troublesome for you if you barely were able to kill Phoebe…" Leon reminded her, smirking as he cinched the bandage around her arm.

"Ow," Haru breathed, shooting him a glare. She knew he was making it tight on purpose. "I didn't need your help with her. I was doing just fine—"

"Obviously not," he held up her arm before cinching the bandage. "You may be a world class assassin, but these children are crafty and strong. They've been trained by some of our own men. I fought with quite a few of them at the docks, and you'd be surprised at some of the tricks they have."

"Yeah, like being able to light themselves on fire," Haru grimaced as she recalled how Phoebe was able to turn herself into a giant fireball. It had taken a while for them to get the situation under control, but after tazing her a couple times, and with the help from Leon's shield, they were able to finally kill her.

"We just have to follow Lediv's lead, then. He has all the information; there won't be any surprises," she assumed, nodding her head. Haru hated surprises. This would be a welcome change for her.

 **The Academy**

 **January 5th, 07:00 A.M. EST**

 **2022**

 _(Trigger Warning: Mentions of Suicide)_

Raven stretched out lazily in his bed, curling back under the covers. He was truly content when he was asleep. Lazy and sleepy, but happy.

Until the door to his room was practically kicked down. "Get up!" Julia yelled, storming over to him and wrenching the blanket from his grip. Raven gasped, tumbling onto the cold floor, banging his knee on the corner of the bed in the process.

"Ow," he rubbed his knee ruefully, looking up at his teammate in confusion. "What was that for—"

"Something happened with Phoebe," Julia blurted grimly, her calm pretense slipping away quickly. "Come on, we don't have time."

"Wha—"

He was quickly wrenched from his spot on the floor, soon flying down the hall with Julia.

As they turned a corner, Raven began to wonder if shadow teleporting would just be easier. He'd be there in less than a second, to wherever they needed to be! However, as they reached the Beta team hall and Julia dropped his hand, Raven's stomach lurched in trepidation. Policemen and faculty members filled the hall left and right. Yellow police tape blocked off the beta dorm. Travis sat next to Avi's wheelchair, the older boy rubbing his shoulder comfortingly. David merely stood next to them, staring numbly at the policemen as they went in and out of the Beta Team's dorm.

"Julia...What's wrong with Phoebe?" He whispered hoarsely.

"They said… she took some pills. They weren't able to..." she stated flatly, shaking her head. He could tell she didn't believe it, just from the fiery glint that appeared in her eyes. He didn't believe it either. Phoebe was fine the day before, laughing at lunch and goofing off with Ana after school. Why would she ever do something like that?

"Ana...Oh, god. How is she.."

"Not well. Jace is with her now."

Phoebe was dead. She was _dead_. Sure, people had been injured and maimed, and Kian had disappeared, but none of his friends here had actually been pronounced dead. And Phoebe was such a good soul, too. It has seemed like just last week he was at the Academy dance with her, before running off to save Gezie and Jack.

Raven squeezed his eyes shut, pushing back his tears and bile. How could this be happening? How?

"J-Julia?" a quiet voice stuttered from behind them. Julia turned around to find Jace, her cheeks tear streaked, chewing away at her bottom lip. "There's...something wrong with Ana. You have to help!"

Jace didn't wait another moment for them. She hurried off back down the hall, turning the corner and disappearing. It seemed like she was going to help her friend, with or without them. They wordlessly followed after her, unsure of what they would find. When they finally turned the corner, it wasn't immediately clear what the issue was. Ana sat with her back to the wall, covering her ears, her lips moving indecipherably.

"Ana…" Jace mumbled, crouching down the the teen. She put her small hands to Ana's, trying to gently pry them away from her ears. "Come on, you have to tell me what's wrong."

"She's probably just in grief…" Julia sighed sadly, rubbing her forehead. If Ana was this consumed in sadness, then Gezie would most absolutely torn up about this loss. Oh, god, she'd completely forgotten about Gez. This would be so much worse when the others got home from that mission. How were they going to come back from this? The loss of Phoebe would most certainly break the team's spirits for awhile.

"Raven, go get the rest of the team for me, will you? Travis may be able to help her," she whispered to the younger boy. With a nod, Raven developed into shadow and disappeared. As an empath and a generally more caring person, Travis would be better suited for helping Ana. Julia wanted to help the journalist, she truly did, but a part of her wanted to break down over the loss of Phoebe. It was always hard losing a comrade. Julia hadn't gotten used to it, even after the death of her parents.

"J-Julia…?" Ana whispered, her blue eyes flicking up at the girl. "I-I can hear...I can hear you."

Julia furrowed her brows. She hadn't said anything, really.

Raven appeared quickly, holding onto a somber Avi, David, and Travis. His eyes swept over their faces, very confused over what he had missed.

"What did I miss?" he whispered uneasily.

Julia shook her head a little, signaling that now was not the time to be asking questions. "What do you mean, hear me? I didn't say anything."

"Not out loud," Ana shook her head, squeezing her eyes shut.

Oh. Not out loud. What did she mean by 'not out loud'? When had she even said anything? Then, everything seemed to click for Julia. "You… telepathy?" She took a wild stab at the most logical solution. Ana was hearing her thoughts, wasn't she?

"Yes, I think I'm hearing your thoughts," the journalist answered Julia's internal question slowly, like she wasn't quite comprehend it entirely. "I can hear all of your thoughts," she mumbled, gripping a lock of hair tightly. Her face contorted in pain, then shot a glare at Raven.

"I didn't know. I didn't know about this at all, Raven. Stop blaming me!"

"I didn't say anything!" He quickly put up his hands in protest, sharing a concerned glance with Julia. He might not have said anything, but he sure thought it. How many of their friends had kept secrets? He just figured that Ana's power was one of her's.

"You think I'm like Travis? You think I'm like Avi? I'm not!" Ana shouted, her gaze cold and steady. She slowly got up from her spot on the floor, shakily holding onto the wall for support. "I'm _not_."

"Hey." Avi gave her a warning look, trying to diffuse the situation a little. "We all had our reasons—"

"And you," Ana ignored Avi, her seething gaze swinging to Julia. "Can't turn Gezie's opinion against me like you did with the others!"

Julia, in shock, blinked a few times. She hadn't really considered that Ana's blame would be placed on her in this moment. And she certainly hadn't thought that going after everyone who had a dangerous secret at this school would come back to bite her in the ass.

"What am I supposed to do? Not tell her you can read her mind? And besides, Gezie made her own decisions on who to trust!" Julia shot back, now uneasy when she saw the dark look on Ana's face.

"You're like the witch hunter of secrets at this academy!" Ana took a menacing step towards the other girl. "Have you ever considered maybe some secrets are kept for a reason?"

"And what reason did _you_ have?"

Immediately after her hasty question, Julia's temples began to hurt.

Almost if she were squeezing them a little too tight. Then the pressure swept over her, almost like a tsunami, and before long she was gasping for air, down on her knees and clutching her temples for dear life.

"Julia?!" Raven shouted in worriment. David was the closest person to her, grabbing onto the teen as she slumped in his arms. Travis rushed over, immediately feeling for a pulse. He stared at Julia's limp body in bewilderment, unsure of what was happening to her, before glancing up to find Ana's eyes a brilliant blue color. And that was the last thing he saw before the darkness swept over him.

 **The Academy**

 **January 5th, 08:00 A.M. EST**

 **2022**

Raven's eyes cracked open to soft sound of waves gently beating against the shore. For a second, he thought he had fallen asleep in science class again. He squinted as sunlight pored down on him. Nope, he definitely was not in class. Maybe he teleported in his sleep again? When he was younger, Raven had the tendency to teleport onto the subway or in the kitchen, just from the inexperience of his power.

"What the…" he grumbled, sitting up and squinting at his surroundings. Raven was very surprised to find that he was on a boat, sailing away from Metropolis' port. As he glanced around the ship, he began to feel dread creeping over him. The water around the boat spiked his anxiety alone, but he recognized the ship he was on.

"No way," he muttered hoarsely. "How is this happening?"

At that moment, a couple with a dark haired boy wearing a Superman t-shirt walked past him.

"Mommy, can we go to the front?" the boy pointed to the bow of the boat, practically jumping up and down from excitement.

"Of course, baby, it's your birthday! We can go get ice cream after, too!" The woman grinned. Her partner picked up the child and pressed a kiss to his check as they moved to the front of the boat.

Raven felt like he wanted to vomit. "This...This was ten years ago. How is this happening?" He forced himself to get up and follow the family, almost as if he were in a trance.

Taking a deep breath, the teen followed them until they were at the front of the boat. His hands shaking, he forced himself to speak. He knew he would never get this chance again. "M-Mom? Is that you?"

"What kind of ice cream do you want?" his mother cooed to her son, eyes glowing with joy.

Raven's brows furrowed as he realized that she probably couldn't hear him. But, if he wasn't back in time, what was going on? Paying a bit more attention to his surroundings, Raven noticed that he was a bit more...translucent than the other people around him. Maybe...this was a memory? Yes, that was why it was so vivid. It was his mind.

"Damn…" Raven groaned, rubbing his forehead. How was he going to get out of this one? He was alone, and didn't have much of a clue as to what was going on around here.

"Mommy, look at the boats!" the young boy cried happily, spotting a sailboat on the bay.

Raven glanced down at the water, catching sight of a darker boat as it sped away from the side of the ferry. "Oh no," he murmured, a cold feeling creeping into his gut as he realized what came next. He turned around, wanting to scream and shout to the other people about the danger that lurked below in the boiler room. Raven had read about this over and over, trying to figure out why things happened the way they did. He had only moments to spare.

Just as Raven began to scream at people to get to the lifeboats, a loud, thunderous roar came from beneath them, rocking the boat. People screamed and clung to railings. Children tumbled from their parents' arms. No one seemed certain of what was happening or what to do— except Raven Arisato.

He kept doing his best to usher people towards the lifeboats, but everyone seemed to walk past him like he didn't exist. Raven could feel his panic and hysteria growing as another explosion rocked the boat, and he turned back to try and find his parents. He had to see what happened to them now, since he didn't all those years ago.

As the teen sprinted through the throngs of people, he caught a glimpse of his mother lying face down on the deck. Raven didn't have to look at her any longer to know the story.

 _"Amy Blackwell-Arisato, 37 years old, trampled to death in the Metropolis Bay Explosion."_

He had read that line a million times over in the Daily Planet, until each word was burned in his brain. Trampled to death as she and her husband rushed their son to the lifeboats.

Raven didn't have much time to think as he found the lifeboats, searching for his younger self. Then, there he was, lying in a lifeboat, people pouring in around him.

His father was nowhere to be seen, but Raven already knew how the story ended.

 _"Jun Arisato, 40 years old, drowned in the Metropolis Bay Explosion."_

Raven knew, when he awoke, that the police would sit him down at their station and give him vanilla wafers and milk. They would talk about Batman and Superman and all of his favorite heroes. Then they would tell him how a very bad group of people wanted to hurt others. They would tell him his mother and father were never coming back. They would tell Raven that he was alone.

And that, after everything that would happen, would be the killer for him.

 **The Academy**

 **January 5th, 08:00 A.M. EST**

 **2022**

Julia's obsidian eyes fluttered open as she let out a low groan. Her splitting headache was fading, but she had no clue what was going on. She sat up and glanced around, finding herself in the middle of what resembled the Academy's courtyard. It was smoke filled and cloudy, making it hard for her to see.

"Hello?" Julia called, wondering how she got here. She began to pick her way through the rubble of the school, trying to find any sort of life. There had to be someone.

As she walked down the stone path, her foot brushed what resembled a hand, buried under rock and debris.

"Oh no," she breathed in horror, throwing the rocks to the side, and uncovering her teammate. Jack Aresenault, his body burned and twisted, was dead.

"How?" she swallowed her horror, tears beginning to burn her eyes. Her gaze caught on Jack's burns, narrowing in suspicion. She recognized those burns. They strangely resembled Chip's.

Julia heard the crunch of gravel behind her, and whirled around to find herself staring at Roman Polaris, acid dripping off of his hands. His eyes were as red as fire, and his lips curled up into a grimace.

"Did you do this?" She asked evenly, balling her fists. Julia wasn't certain what she would do if she had to protect herself. She wasn't in her battle gear and Roman's acid would pose a danger to her.

"Why are you even asking?" he chuckled darkly. "Of course I did this. Who else has that," he gestured to Jack's mangled body, "ability."

"I guess...part of me didn't want to believe it," Julia choked out, unable to fully comprehend what was happening. Was this a nightmare? There was no way this was really happening. The last thing Julia remembered was her teammates— alive, but grieving. What was going on?

"Believe it, firecracker. It's better this way. Jack was getting a little...annoying, don't you agree?" Roman smirked, his red eyes glinting with malice.

Julia simply stared at him, mouth agape. Her stomach roiled with terror and anger. How was this happening? Her teammate was dead and the Academy was destroyed. This had to be some sick, sick prank, right?

"Nothing to say, Julia? You used to have so much to say to me," he continued, beginning to approach her slowly. Her eyes locked on the acid that dripped onto the ground, burning holes in the concrete. She slowly inched back.

"You really loved to tell me how much of a horrible person I was, how much of a monster I was—"

"I never did that! Your actions said it all and I never had to!" Julia shot back, trying to keep a good amount of distance between them.

"Did you ever think," Roman laughed. "That maybe I needed you? That I needed your support, not your criticism? I didn't need the girl I loved to look at me like I was a monster! If anything, this is your fault!" He pointed at Jack's mangled body, grinning viciously. "You were too weak to kill me when I became a threat and too cruel to help me when I needed it!"

Julia took a deep breath, attempting to remain calm. She had to keep her wits about her; they were all she had left at this point. "Can't we go back to the old days? Where things were simple? T-This isn't like you, Roman. None of this is."

He stared at her for a moment, his face devoid of emotion. Julia held bated breath, her muscles tense.

Finally, he spoke: "You're right. This isn't like me. I'm not really one for talking, and you're not dead yet."

Her stomach flipped as she barely avoided his lunge, darting to the side and falling to the ground. Julia scrambled to her feet as he tried to tackle her again, and she took off down the stone path, heading for the ruined Academy.

She had to find cover.

Julia pushed her legs as fast as she could, leaping over and dodging debris. She didn't have many options; the only thing at her disposal was her hand to hand combat and her explosive ability. However, Roman's acid touch and his own explosive powers would make this a tricky battle for her. Not to mention she was completely alone.

The teen hurried inside what remained of the entrance of the school, glancing around the inside. The entrance to the dorms was collapsed, but she could still head towards the classrooms.

"Left it is," she murmured, sprinting down the hall. Julia was sure to touch the crumbled walls of the building, just in case she needed to bring the building down. The girl spotted a semi-intact chemistry classroom and made a split decision to head inside, slamming the door shut. She pushed a wooden desk in front of it, hoping it would buy her a bit of time.

"I need a weapon," she mumbled nervously, searching for anything she could use. Julia sifted through rocks and broken desks, hefting up pieces of wood to see if they would do the job. Finally, her eyes zeroed in on a piece of broken pipe in the corner of the room. It was probably the best she would find, so she snatched it up.

Julia moved away from the door— ready, but waiting. Her heart sped, waiting for what would come next. Wasn't he coming after her? Where was he? Roman was out for blood, there was no way he was letting her go without a fight.

After a couple minutes of painful waiting, the wall began to melt behind her. Julia yelped, scrambling away, just as the brick exploded.

"Wasn't that cool?" Roman grinned, stepping through the demolished wall. "Acid and explosions coming together. It's not some parlor trick."

Julia set her jaw, settling into her fighting stance. He was toying with her now, gloating and trying to get a rise out of her. It was working, but she wasn't going to let him know that.

"I suppose you're bored with talking now. Me too." Roman ignited himself, hovering inches off the ground. The control he exerted while using his powers was unnatural, too.

"This can't be real," Julia breathed to herself. Everything was so out of place and baffling. There had to be so much more.

Roman scoffed at her remark, then zoomed through the air, attempting to throw her back into the wall.

Julia ducked, rolling across the floor and popping onto her feet, knocking a punch into his side as he flew by. It was a quick maneuver, one that caught her opponent off guard, but it only seemed to anger him even more.

She knew that the only way to win this was if she could keep his hands away from her. That acid could kill her if it burned any vital parts of her body.

So, when Roman lunged for her again, she rolled underneath an upturned desk. Julia kicked both of her legs out towards the top of the desk, sending it straight at Roman. The desk hit his chest squarely, sending him skidding across the floor. She quickly got up, swinging the pipe towards his head. One good hit, Julia thought, one good hit that would knock him out could end this.

Roman flipped the desk off his chest, his eyes burning. He grabbed the pipe, steam wafting off the metal, and yanked Julia towards him.

His other hand wrapped around her neck, grabbing her tight.

A strangled scream was elicited as Julia felt the acid searing into her skin. Julia's vision swam as she struggled to breathe, throwing punches left and right. She had to do something, anything to get free.

She couldn't die. Not like this. Not like _this_.

 **The Academy**

 **January 5th, 08:00 A.M. EST**

 **2022**

David awoke to the sound of gunfire and screams. They weren't pleasant sounds, but certainly not the worst he had ever heard. He let out a frustrated groan, noticing that his head was still throbbing from before. Then, the confusion began to set in. Hadn't he been in the halls of the Academy? Not on the battlefield?

"Interesting…" David murmured, running his fingers down a large childhood scar on his arm. He had many of these— all from learning to use his power— but this scar was his favorite. It was from when he first mastered his gift: glass manipulation.

He glanced around the area, finding himself back at the airfield where the Alpha Team had successfully hijacked a plane full of dangerous weapons— with the Beta Team's help.

"I could have sworn we were just with...Phoebe…" he murmured darkly, recalling the events that had just occurred. David didn't really feel terrible about Phoebe's fate. How could he? In terms of morality, he was rather apathetic. Death wasn't some cruel happenence meant to torture humans, it was simply a part of life.

Sure, he was disappointed she died, but was he sad? Not as much as Raven or Ana was. Being slightly insane did that to a person.

David sighed and clambered to his feet, "Might as well figure out what's going on."

He picked his way around bodies, indifferent to them, and came across a very familiar scene. A throng of soldiers, positioned by a stack of metal crates, caught sight of David and began firing at him. The teen ducked behind a crate, grateful that the spray of bullets peppered the metal instead of him.

"What the…." he murmured, brown eyes sweeping the scene. This was exactly like the airfield battle a couple months ago. It was the exact battle that gave the Alpha Team their fame.

"Fine, then. I'll just beat them again," he shrugged confidently. David sprinted out from behind the crate, willing the shattered glass on the ground to rise up and impale his enemies exactly like the first time. But nothing happened. The glass merely sat there, motionless. It didn't even shake.

"What?!" David hissed, horrified that his power wasn't working. Time seemed to slow down as he looked at his hands, then back to the glass. He tried it again, this time willing the glass to swirl into a shield. "Move. _Move_!"

David let out a frustrated scream, his hands shaking from terror. "Where is my gift?" he mumbled. He probably just wasn't trying hard enough; it had to be here. But, after a few tries, it became clear that it wasn't.

David's thoughts began to spiral out of control. What was he without his art? Was he simply some psycho? He couldn't be normal. How would he leave a lasting legacy now? How would the world know his name?

David Porter, to the rest of the world, would simply be the insane kid who was foolish enough to get slaughtered on the battlefield.

"I'm useless," he murmured, sinking to his knees. "Just a waste of space."

What was his point of living? David was certain his purpose was to be an artist. He was going to be the world's _greatest_ artist. He was even given the powers to do so! He had been sure the universe wanted that. Why else would he have been able to manipulate glass?

Things had made sense and now they didn't.

David now noticed he had an audience: the soldiers. They laughed raucously, snickering at how distraught David was. Normally, he wouldn't care. His peers in grade school always whispered and laughed about what a freak David Porter was. This was nothing new.

But this time, they were laughing at how normal he was instead of how freakish he was. He swallowed heavily, unsure of what to do. Without his powers, he was practically useless.

What was there to do, throw glass at them?

He heard a loud roar behind him, and ducked to the left to see Roman Polaris zoom through the sky. He quickly descended upon the soldiers, not bothered by their futile attempts to defend themselves and their easy defeat. It was almost child's play for Roman. It only deepened the wound for David.

Roman shot him a quick, knowing smirk. "Useless," he spat callously, then took off in the sky without another thought.

David, for once, had to agree with him.

 **The Academy**

 **January 5th, 08:00 A.M. EST**

 **2022**

Avi's eyes opened slowly, then he immediately closed them again, trying to shield them from the dust that billowed over his head. He let out a raspy wheeze, coughing a little. He tried to wipe a layer of grime from his face, but he couldn't reach due to the cramped space he was in.

As the dust settled, Avi began to realize that he was buried underneath rocks and debris. He could see light poking through the cracks; the space probably provided a little bit of air. But not for long.

Avi stretched his limbs, gritting his teeth in frustration when he realized getting free would be a lot more difficult due to him missing a few limbs. He wiggled his good leg free, and put it at the base of a relatively small rock. He pushed with everything he had, holding on to another boulder to stabilize himself. It seemed like it wouldn't budge for a moment, but then, slowly, it tumbled to the ground.

Avi set his foot on a nearer boulder, and wiggled it away slowly, until he could easily push it. Now, with some room, the teen could crawl his way towards the small hole he had made.

He took a deep breath of air as he poked his head out, and used his good arm to push himself out. Avi rolled down the pile of rocks that had encased him, wincing as he came to a sharp stop.

"That's going to hurt tomorrow," he groaned, stretching his back. As he rolled onto his front, he became distinctly aware of the sounds of battle, and found his leader, Gezie, in an intense fight with Leon Coal. Seeing the man that had taken an arm, a leg, and part of his hearing away sent a flood of memories towards him. But it was Gezie that truly captured his attention.

She was lethal. Leon barely had a second to spare as the girl dashed agily, avoiding every attack he made. Her ink was transformed into a whip and dagger; she'd slash him with one construct and defend herself with another.

Leon was struggling to withstand her attacks as she plunged the dagger into his thigh, sending him falling to his knees. He wheezed once, blood flecking his cracked lips, but attempted to stagger up. Gezie didn't give him much of a chance. She wrapped her whip around his throat, coiling it tighter and tighter. Leon grasped her whip, trying to pull the viscous liquid free, but it was to no avail.

Eventually, the choking noises he uttered ceased, and he landed on the ground. Avi couldn't tell if he was just unconscious or dead, but seeing Gezie kick his ass was both heartening and terrifying.

Avi tried to smother a cough, but Gezie heard him, whirling around. Her baby blue eyes narrowed in disgust— a look he had never seen on her.

"Why don't you be useful and bury yourself?" she gestured at the pile of rock he had just crawled out of. "You'll save me a lot of trouble."

Avi blinked, once, twice, then again. "W-What?" he said, simply because that was all he could say. Gezie was saying this? This seemed more like a Roman thing to say. Speaking of Roman…

"Where's the rest of the team? Shouldn't they have been helping you?" His brown eyes flicked to Leon's still body. It was making him nervous that she had killed him after all.

Detached, Gezie pointed to the rubble in the middle of the Academy.

"Holy… Gez! We have to help them!" he cried, attempting to make his way back over, but forgetting he only had one leg. Avi fell down immediately after trying to get back up.

His leader sneered, "We? What are you going to do?" Her cold blue eyes roamed across his body, staring pointedly at his stump of an arm.

Who was this Gezie? And why was she so mean? Shame washed onto Avi as she mocked his injuries, making him squirm uncomfortably. But, at the end of the day, she was right. She was always right. What was he going to do, missing an arm and a leg?

"I can...I can still help—"

"Moral support isn't help, Avi," she scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Newsflash, you can't do shit anymore. That," she pointed to his missing arm and leg, "is a liability. How are we supposed to save anyone when we're always saving you? Think of all the soldiers Jack could have subdued if he wasn't keeping you alive. He could have caught Leon."

Avi's eyes flicked guiltily towards Leon's body.

"Then maybe we wouldn't be here and the team wouldn't be dead."

He wanted to scream at her. He wanted to disprove every single word she said. He wasn't useless. He wasn't dead weight. He had a place on this team, a role. He should have never gotten demoted to Omega because he got shot. The team needed him.

But how was he supposed to argue all that when the proof was all here?

How was he "useful" when Jack, Raven, and seemingly everyone else was constantly saving him from getting killed? If someone else, like Julia, went with Carla and Roman to fight the rebels, maybe they wouldn't have gotten captured.

Avi could feel his cheeks getting hot, and tears welling in his eyes. He didn't like that feeling; he hated it. It didn't happen very often, but when it did it was messy.

"Aw, are you going to cry?" Gezie taunted, chuckling when she saw the first salty tears roll down his dusty cheeks. "Why don't you stay here and dig out our teammates' bodies? Leave the job to the real heroes, Avi."

Gezie turned away from him without a second thought and left, leaving Avi with only silence.

He lay back on the ground, letting the tears roll down his cheeks quicker. A liability, he thought, glancing at his stumps. She was right.

Avi let the tears come, hoping that he'd be buried with rocks again so he wouldn't have to think about how useless he was any longer.

 **The Academy**

 **January 5th, 08:00 A.M. EST**

 **2022**

Travis awoke to the television blaring. He sat up, rubbing his pale lavender eyes a bit, trying to figure out if he had fallen asleep on the dorm room's couch. The show on the television sounded familiar, and upon listening for a moment, he realized that it was Catori's favorite cartoon. He smiled a bit, thinking of his younger half-sister. She had always made him sit with her and watch it, and even though he couldn't really see what was happening, listening to her laugh occasionally was worth it.

"Cat?" Travis called, standing up from the couch. "Did you leave the T.V. on again? You're wasting electricity."

The boy tried to see if his sister was in the dorm with his empathy, but was surprised with what he sensed. Two people were in the kitchen, one with slight anger and sadness, the other with immense amounts of fear and terror.

"C-Catori?" he called anxiously, beginning to run towards the kitchen. When he entered, someone grabbed his hand.

"Don't go any farther, Travis," someone said softly. He recognized the voice to be his mother's, and nearly choked on his words.

"L-Let g-go!" he cried , managing to jab his elbow into her stomach, relishing the grunt it elicited, and crouched down to his sister's side. He frantically felt for a pulse on her wrist, then her neck, and then tried to listen for any breathing.

Nothing.

"What did y-you _do_?" he whirled around to his mother, tears beginning to brim in his eyes. "Tell me what happened so I can help her!"

"Travis, she's poisoned. There's nothing you can do—"

He didn't wait another second, yanking down on his mother's arm and grabbing Catori with his other. He willed his mother's strength into his sister, attempting to reverse the effects of the poison and heal her. But after a few seconds, it was obvious it was all for nothing.

"Travis! Enough. She's _dead_ ," Haru yelled, trying to pull her arm away.

But Travis wasn't going to let go of either of them. Tears were pouring down his cheeks, and he could barely think straight. His sister, the only thing he really had left to live for, was gone. By his mother's hand, too.

She was dead. Shouldn't he let go of Haru's hand? Stop sapping her energy to fuel his powers? It was fruitless, anyways. Catori was dead and no amount of healing was going to change that.

All for nothing, huh? He could live with that.

Travis looked up at his mother with a murderous, dark glare, and began to pull away more of her energy, feeling warmth slip from Haru into Catori aimlessly.

"Stop!" She screamed, trying to wrench herself away, but he held tight. She was not going to slip away this time. Not this time and not ever again. This time there would be consequences.

"No," Travis sobbed, squeezing his eyes shut. This felt so horrible but right simultaneously. Cat didn't deserve this, but Haru did. He kept hanging on, ignoring his mother's screams and pleas. Even when she punched him, he hung on. Even when she apologized, he hung on.

Eventually, she began to tire from exhaustion, falling to the floor.

Travis waited a few more moments until he was absolutely certain she would not be able to get up.

Then, he let go.

 **.x.X.x.**

 **Hello, lovely readers! The Fangirls are back with another chapter (finally)! Sorry this took seven months, but you know, life is life. We have a brief but wonderful announcement to make. Our** **dear friend, GX Prodigy, has joined us as a co-writer/planner/etc. We'd like to give him a big welcome and a big thanks! We couldn't have made this chapter without his support.**

 **So, if you haven't picked it up yet, all of Julia's/Avi's/Travis'/etc. scenes were all nightmarish type scenarios created by Ana's subconscious. It was revealed that she does in fact have powers, they were just hidden. And boy, are they a doozy. Also, in the first half of the chapter, the team was split up to handle a mission. Will this fracture them even more?**

 **We left off with the team still trapped in their nightmares. How will they get out of Ana is the source? Tune in next chapter to find out.**

 **So, we can't promise any regular updating anymore. Even any quick updating. But we will try to work consistently on the story. We do hope to finish it in the next year, though. Hopefully with an update every 2ish months.**

 **We only have 7 (give or take a few) more chapters to go!**

 **Tell us how we did with this one in a review!**

 **Love you all and hope you enjoyed!**

 _The Fangirls_

 **Questions:**

1\. Which scene was your favorite?

2\. What is one thing you _really_ want to see for the remainder of the story?

3\. Which character surprised you the most this chapter?


	25. S3, Episode 4: Misconception

**.**

 **How Far We've Fallen**

 **.x.x.x.x.x.**

 **Season 3, Episode 4**

 _~The YoungJusticeFangirls~_

 **The Academy, Medical Bay**

 **January 5th, 03:00 PM EST**

**2022**

Harvard rubbed his bleary eyes, sighing as he gazed at the unmoving forms of Julia, David, Travis, Avi, and Raven.

"How did we get here, huh? All you had to do was stop asking questions and stay out of the way," he grumbled to himself, drinking from his flask. After sending a few nurses out for a lunch break, he was alone. It wasn't completely a ruse; they had been working tirelessly to bring the kids back for the past couple hours.

Harvard clambered up from his seat, pacing by the hospital beds the kids laid in. He paused by Avi's bed, his deep grimace softening as his hazel eyes roamed over the teen.

"Probably the most peaceful moment you've gotten since coming here," he chuckled. Sighing deeply, Harvard couldn't help but feel slightly guilty for how this all played out. Avi wasn't exactly having the best year at the Academy— losing his limbs and being forced to make Luthor's weapons— and now he was trapped in Ana's telepathic hold.

His gaze swung across the room, where she laid. She hadn't moved, her eyes still glowing the same brilliant blue from when they found her. It unnerved him, and Harvard Jasper was not an easy man to unnerve.

"I'm here!" Genevieve panted as she burst through the doors. "Took me forever to get through the crowd outside, but I'm here." She pulled her light brown hair into a ponytail, and snapped on a pair of rubber gloves.

"You're not needed," Harvard responded coldly, making the medic wince. She hadn't heard him speak that coldly since they first met.

Genevieve arched a brow, "You're saying I, an incredibly intelligent and talented doctor, am not needed for this incredibly delicate and life threatening situation?"

"Yes. What are you going to do? Give the kids a shot?" He gestured to their unmoving forms. "There's nothing physically wrong with them! It's that one," Harvard pointed to Ana, "That's causing the issue. She's got powers we've never even seen before."

"I thought she was powerless," Genevieve mumbled, green eyes trailing towards Ana.

"We all did," he said firmly, then stood from his seat. "You need to leave. You're not needed."

"But—"

"Leave."

Harvard's harsh tone made Genevieve clench her fists. There was no way he was going to talk to her like _that_. How dare he?

"And what will you do?" she hissed, jabbing a finger towards him.

Harvard chuckled at her anger, "Figure out a way to save them. Now, go, before I call Rashid in here. We both know _that_ won't be a pretty meeting."

With a big huff, Genevieve whirled around, beginning to storm out the doors of the Medical ward. However, before she left, she met Harvard's eyes once more. "Don't think this is over. I know something is amiss. Especially, since Academy security wouldn't let me view Phoebe's body."

The door shut with a bang. Harvard exhaled and sank into his seat. Genevieve wouldn't be kept at bay for long. In time, she would sniff out the truth; she was too smart not to.

Harvard knew he had to act fast. Any time wasted is time that Genevieve and the rest of the Alpha Team could use to get ahead.

Fingers flying on the keyboard of his phone, he sent a quick text to Amun Rashid, telling him that he was needed. He hesitated when staring at the next contact on his screen, wondering if letting this person in was really the best course of action.

But, this was an emergency, and Harvard was desperate. He sent the text to Lediv Awbree, knowing he'd be there in a few minutes. Lediv hate wasting time when it wasn't necessary. In that aspect, he was a lot like Luthor, but the man knew that at their core they were polar opposites.

 **LexCorp Tower, Metropolis**

 **January 5th, 02:00 PM EST**

**2022**

"Flux, what would you say was the most dangerous part of today's mission?"

Jack didn't hesitate as he answered. "Getting those kids out of the building. Their safety is always our number one priority, but it was challenging keeping them safe while handling the men that took them," he responded confidently.

Carla envied his ability to answer reporters so easily at press meetings. He didn't appear nervous or fazed by the amount of people in the room, just the opposite. Jack held a beaming smile and a confident approach to anything these journalists threw at them.

"Morrigan," a female reporter began. Carla felt her stomach flip as she tried to gather her thoughts. "We understand that you have a plethora of abilities at your disposal. What did you find most useful for this mission?"

Carla ran through every power she had used, trying to find a suitable answer. Fire balls? Her vines? Shapeshifting?

There was an awkward silence as she tried to come up with a safe answer.

Gezie, at the end of the table, leaned forward to look at her. Carla shot her a slightly panicked look, but her leader nodded in encouragement.

Gezie understood how hard these press conferences were for her, but according to Rashid, they were "necessary" for the Academy's image.

"I...uh, turning into a bird was pretty useful. It was hard finding the kids at first, but then..." Carla stammered out, her cheeks turning a light shade of pink.

"Her shape shifting abilities were _incredibly_ useful," Jack interrupted, shooting her another glance. "Without Carla, we could have never found the children. They were moved to another location that we didn't know of, so having a bird's eye view to find them was really what made this mission successful."

Carla watched in awe as he flawlessly elaborated for her. As the reporters aimed their questions at Gezie, she gave him a slight smile. "Thanks."

"No problem. You get used to it," he murmured to her, reaching beneath the table to give her hand a comforting squeeze.

Carla's stomach shot into her throat, and she slid her hand back. Jack took notice, and pulled his hand back as well.

"Sorry."

Mentally berating herself for acting so cold, she wanted to tell him it was alright, but then the questions came to Roman.

"Blaze, do you think the operation was hindered without your four other teammates?"

A couple cameras flashed on Roman's sneering face.

"Fuck no."

Carla, taking a sip of her water, nearly choked as he cursed on live television.

"I think we did great. You know the saying, 'There's too many cooks in the kitchen'? We didn't have that this time. It was a smooth operation. No fighting, no arguing, no one revealing crazy secrets—"

"I think that's enough questions for now."

She had almost forgotten. When they arrived at the press conference, her teammates had been equally surprised and unnerved to find that Lex Luthor had his own spot at the table for answering questions. He had claimed he was just in town and wanted to stop by, but Carla had a sneaking suspicion it was to get some credit for the Alpha Team's success today.

Roman scoffed at Luthor, "I wasn't even close to done yet!"

"Roman." Gezie warned under her breath.

Luthor let out an airy yet forced laugh, "I'm sure, Blaze! But, unfortunately, we cannot spend all day answering these lovely questions. We have work to do for our upcoming...project."

"Upcoming project?" Carla breathed to Jack, hoping that as Luthor's "poster boy", he'd have a clue as to what he meant. Jack simply shrugged.

The reporters launched into a frenzy, eager to get a little bit more information for their next scoop.

"Mr. President, are you starting more superhero Academies around the country?" A journalist yelled. The camera swung towards Luthor.

"Well, I wasn't supposed to reveal anything yet," Lex sighed in disappointment, but then gave the crowd a wry smile. "But I suppose I could make a little...exception. It has been too long without a peacemaking force in America. Since the cowardly Justice League has disbanded, crime has, unfortunately, skyrocketed! In order to assuage this, I plan for some of the heroes I have been working with to take up the mantle and protect our citizens."

The questions from the crowd kept flying, until the point where Carla couldn't even discern who was saying what. She noted the way Jack's hands curled during Luthor's rant about the Justice League, and she decided to take a play out of his book, putting her hand on his clenched fists.

"I know you hate them. Don't worry, It'll be okay," She gave him a sympathetic smile. Jack looked at her in confusion, opening his mouth to respond, but blushing heavily when he glanced down at her hands.

"Actually, I—"

"That'll be all for questions! Thank you for your time," Luthor announced, standing up from his seat.

The team exchanged a glance, and followed after him towards the exit. No one really said anything, they just followed after him down the wide corridors of LexCorp, listening to the echoing thud of his expensive leather shoes.

"A peacemaking force, huh?"

Luthor paused mid-stride and Jack almost walked into him.

Gezie continued, her gaze unwavering. "So we'll be a cheap version of the Justice League?"

Luthor gave a forced laugh, "This team will be what you make of it, Miss Leclerc. It could be a savior to everyone across the globe… or just a repeat of the Justice League's era. It is what you make of it."

Gezie snorted in disgust.

"Fortunately," he continued, "This team should be nothing like the one you have now. It'll be a...second chance. A place where you could _actually_ save lives."

"Who are you to talk about saving lives, Luthor?" Roman growled. He pushed past Gezie, standing quite a few inches shorter than Luthor. "All you've done is ruined them. Look what you did to mine."

"I made you a celebrity—"

"I can't touch anyone without burning them!" he roared, hands shaking.

The hallway fell silent, but Luthor's apathetic expression did not change. Mercy Graves, who had exited the press conference hall a few minutes after the group, was now hurrying towards them. Roman glanced back, seeing her eye him and Luthor warily, as if they were about to come to blows.

Carla took a few steps forward, cautiously putting a hand on his shoulder. She felt him exhale for a few seconds. Silently, Roman pushed past Luthor and continued down the hallway without his team.

"Sign a few autographs while you're out there. Make us look good," the president shouted towards him.

Roman simply scoffed once before heading out the door, the crowd drowning out anything else he said.

 **The Academy, Medical Bay**

 **January 5th, 03:00 PM EST**

**2022**

Lediv stepped through the door of the Medical ward, smoothing back his brown hair, the harsh lighting catching the black streaks in his hair.

"Well, this is certainly...an interesting turn of events."

Harvard had been right; Lediv did arrive a few minutes after his text. As he walked in, Harvard couldn't help but be taken aback by the flawless symmetry of his features. He was perfect— too perfect, really.

Harvard grumbled a bit underneath his breath about how Luthor was doing the "devil's work", then swallowed a bit more of his drink.

"Now, now, Harvard," Lediv chided at his remark. "We don't have time for that. What's going on?"

"Ana's got secret powers and they're fucking scary," he said plainly. "I thought you, doing what...you do, would be able to fix this."

Lediv was quiet for a minute, his brow furrowed in concentration. Harvard knew that look quite well; it was when the teen was devising a plan, running possible outcomes through his head.

"I can… try and see what's happening."

"Go for it, kid. Just don't end up like them."

Immediately after Harvard gave him the green light, Lediv's eyes began to take on an unsettling golden glow. Harvard shuddered.

The teen was unmoving as the minutes ticked by— five, ten, fifteen minutes later, he let out a sharp gasp.

"Holy…" Lediv stumbled to the nearest bed, gripping the railing until his knuckles turned white.

"What?! What happened?" Harvard shot up from his seat. He glanced around the room; no one had moved, not even Ana.

"She…" Lediv took a deep breath, steadying his shaking hands. "She's got all of them trapped in some...mental hell. She almost got me. Ana is...insanely volatile, but powerful."

"So...did you fix it?"

Lediv's golden glare swung towards the teacher. "I can't, you imbecile! My powers can't do anything other than witness what's going on. And besides, they're still stuck like that!" he shouted, pointing at the other teens.

"So...then _how_ do we fix it?"

Lediv shook his head, "I don't know if we can—"

The door to the Medical Ward swung open, Amun Rashid stepping through, heavy circles underneath his dark brown eyes. His suit was wrinkled and he had a 5'oclock shadow on his chin. Truth be told, Harvard had never really seen Amun this disheveled. Then again, he hadn't known him for very long, either.

"I found nothing on Ana's telepathy in our databases. Tell me you have something good, Jasper," he growled, slamming the door shut behind him.

"Harvard doesn't have the answers, but I do," Lediv answered before he could. "I just searched their minds, and I think I have a pretty good idea of what's happening."

"Well, boy, explain! We don't have the time to just sit here!"

Lediv scoffed at Amun's pushy comments. "Oh, yes, I'll explain. Ana's got a vice-like grip on their minds. They're locked in some mental torture scenario her subconccious brought up, using what information she found about them. But it's weird. It's almost like she isn't the one really in control, her subconscious is. I don't know how to fix this. I got a glimpse at her mind while she was focused on the others...She truly had no idea about this. Some other telepath erased her memory of her powers, probably for her own safety."

"Is there any other telepaths that might be able to break her hold on their minds?" Rashid interjected desperately. "Maybe the one that erased her memories?"

"From what I saw, I don't think there are many people who could withstand that level of mental power. She almost took me and I was _made_ to withstand power. I was made for Luthor," Lediv replied. "And the telepath that did this? He's long gone. Died a decade ago."

The room was filled with silence as all three of them contemplated what to do. What was there left to do? Leave the kids to eternal torture from Ana's subconcious? Harvard doubted they could really hide the situation for long, and something like this would be a permanent black spot on the Academy's record. It could even possibly lead to a criminal investigation…

"This is bad. This is really, really bad," Harvard mumbled, sighing deeply.

"I know. I think there's only one thing we can try." Rashid pulled out his phone, typing furiously.

"Is the answer to our problems just a Google search away?"

Rashid scoffed darkly, rolling his hazel eyes. "No."

Harvard and Lediv exchanged a puzzled glance as Rashid merely typed away. Finally, after a few minutes of waiting, he put it aside.

"We have the go-ahead," he announced, eyes flicking between the two other people.

Harvard spoke slowly, "For what, may I ask?"

"It's obvious," Lediv assumed, biting his lip. "If Ana is the source of the problem, we need to eliminate the source."

Harvard's eyes flicked between Lediv and Amun as he processed what they were implying. "You want me to—"

"Not I, Luthor. He agrees it is the fastest and most effective solution to the problem."

Lediv chimed in, "It really is. Ana is a huge threat. With her telepathy, intelligence, and loathing for Luthor, she could wreak havoc on our whole operations. Not to mention, we could use this as a cover to get rid of another key player in the Alpha Team's operations. She's their intelligence source. We remove that, and they're considerably weaker."

Harvard merely stared at Lediv, thinking it through. He hated to admit it, but the kid had a point. If Ana could do this, who knew what she was capable of. They had no information on her powers and no way to eliminate them other than…

Harvard's hand gently brushed his handgun, strapped to his belt. He never left his room without it, but never had he imagined using it like this.

"Mr. Jasper, you know the consequences of refusing Lex Luthor. He already suspects Genevieve's betrayal. Don't let him suspect you."

Of course, there was _that_. His supposedly undying loyalty to Luthor. He didn't really even have a choice at this point. Luthor had given him a purpose after everything that had happened to him. For the first time since losing Sam, Harvard had a purpose.

He bit his lip, fighting back any more memories of Sam. He wouldn't think about her now. He'd crumble way too fast.

Lediv let out a soft snicker, and the man's head snapped up to see a golden glow fade from his eyes.

"If only she could see you now. Drinking every day since her death—"

"Shut the hell up! Don't you ever talk about her" Harvard snarled, immediately stalking towards the teen. Lediv easily darted away, laughing at his temper.

Rashid stepped in between them. "Enough! There is work to be done! Harvard, are you going to do it or not?"

"I bet he won't. He's gone soft," Lediv taunted.

Harvard wanted to slam his fist into that perfect face until he couldn't recognize it. "No, I'll fucking do it. You won't be laughing when I kill you next."

Rashid sent him a warning glare. "Do what needs to be done. I'll go inform the nurses to move the other children to another room." He swept out of the room, the door shutting with an ominous bang.

Harvard's hatred for Lediv was reaching a boiling point at this point as he pulled the gun from his holster.

"Why'd you have to go and bring up Sam? I was actually able to tolerate you before you did that," he sneered, glowering at the teen.

"Just had to remind you where you came from. Where you were before Luthor. You were nothing without her and you'd be nothing without him—"

"So would you. You'd still be a clump of cells in a test tube. You wouldn't even have a name! You'd still be called Project: Beware-Devil."

Lediv gritted his teeth at Harvard's jab. Sometimes he forgot how annoying he was, with his insider knowledge, fearless and rash behavior. Harvard didn't understand how much of a threat Lediv was— or worse, how much of a threat he could _become_.

Lediv glanced once at his index finger, where RISE was tattooed, then looked back up at him. "Are you going to do it or not?"

Harvard merely scoffed, then released the safety, turning away from Lediv.

 **The Academy, Medical Bay**

 **January 5th, 05:00 PM EST**

**2022**

Saying Roman felt out of place was a little bit of an understatement. The last place he expected himself at was the Medical Bay, but here he was, stalking the corridor and searching for Julia's room.

Sure, it wasn't too out of place for him. He was somewhat scraped up from his recent mission, but with his explosive abilities and his new acid powers, the traffickers really couldn't do any harm to him. In Roman eyes, the best defense is offense, after all.

As he walked down the hallway, he saw quite a few students— some from Delta, some from Omega. Most simply avoided him, but the few who were brave enough sent him nasty glares.

The first and second glare didn't prompt much of a reaction from him; Roman, used to this reception, ignored most of his peers. But by the fourth one, he was ready to get back in control.

"Is glaring all your cowardly ass can do, Karen?" he shouted at a girl who sent him a dark look.

The girl turned around, her black hair fanning out behind her. "If you're here to see Julia, you're just going to make it worse!"

Roman had been prepared for some stupid insult to his intelligence or morality, but this retort was not what he was expecting. He vaguely recalled Julia talking about Karen Ford at the dorm occasionally. They were probably art club friends or something.

"What do you mean, make it worse? She got telepathically attacked, how much worse could it possibly get?"

Karen let out a laugh that faintly reminded him of a hyena's bark. "Why don't you go in and find out? Oh, wait, maybe you shouldn't. You wouldn't want to traumatize her any more than you already have, would you?"

Roman would have pressed her more, but Karen scurried off down the hall, her long legs quickly carrying her away. He hesitated, wondering if visiting Julia was the right decision. After all, according to Jace, who filled them in on the day's events, she _was_ incredibly traumatized from Ana's psychic attacks.

But Roman was determined to at least attempt to make amends. Sure, he was pretty sure she loathed him and he took a strong dislike to her, but he did have a crush on her at one point, so he a part of him felt obligated to check up on her.

Arriving at Julia's door, he decided to focus on the present and quit worrying about Karen's ominous warning. He rapped his knuckles on the door loudly.

"Gez? Is that you?" Julia called from inside. He could hear a waver in her voice. It was unfamiliar to him, piquing his curiosity. Was she...crying?

Maybe that's what traumatized people did, Roman thought. He hadn't really cried much at all since Chip injected that toxin in him.

Thinking of Chip sent anger burning through him, but upon hearing a sniffle from inside, he quickly pushed it aside. For Julia. He had to try and make amends. He didn't want her seeing him as a...monster anymore.

"No, just me," Roman cracked open the door and peeked his head inside, yanking his hands away when the door knob began to melt under his touch. He wished he hadn't opened the door.

Upon catching sight of him, all the color drained from Julia's face. She opened her mouth to say something, but no sound came out.

"Uh, hey," Roman waved awkwardly. He held up a partially melted bag. "I brought your sketch pad. Just in case you get bored or something."

"Thanks." Julia choked out, obsidian eyes wide.

Roman waited for her to say anything else, rocking back and forth on his feet, but she never did.

"Well...This is super awkward."

"Why are you here?" she blurted out, tightly gripping her sketchbook until her knuckles turned white.

Roman fiddled with the sleeve of his red hoodie, pulling a thread loose. "I, uh, wanted to see how you were doing?"

"Last I remember you hated me," Julia responded curtly. "Did Carla or Gezie put you up to this?"

"Gezie," he admitted, then walked towards a chair by her bedside. She subtly scooted back, clenching her jaw.

"Listen, what happened in the dorm the other day...Things got out of hand. Maybe you pushed me a little too far or maybe I started some shit with you—"

"If this is your version of an apology, it's a half-assed one. You know I have every right to be angry with you, Roman. You just don't know when to stop," Julia cut him off, shooting him an accusing glare.

Roman tried to compose himself, taking a deep breath. "Maybe this _is_ me trying to apologize. And I know you're mad at me for what happened at the docks—"

"And all the vigilante stuff! Aren't we supposed to be a team?" Julia responded quickly. She had heard stories about what he did on the streets to the remaining members of the Light of Justice. He gave them no chances, no mercy. She knew it was plenty to be angry about. If Roman was anybody else than a student at Luthor's Academy, he would have been put behind bars a long, long time ago.

"Listen, Julia! Yes, we are a team! Yes, I'm supposed to be a hero! But what happened— no, what Chip did to me is the reason why you're mad at me. You're mad at the person he made me!"

Julia scoffed at that. "Take some damn responsibility, Roman. You're mangling people—"

"They're criminals—"

"You're taking your anger out on the Light of Justice because you want revenge! That's hardly heroic! Have you ever considered that after what happened in the LOJ compound, I could have been there for you? I could have helped you adjust! I wanted to! But you pushed us all away and decided to go out and get your 'closure'." Julia rolled her eyes, making air quotes. "Roman. We have to be better than Luthor and Elle and everyone we've faced. We have to be better than this."

Roman held her gaze steady, unwilling to simply back down. "Don't you compare me to those monsters. I'm not like them in the slightest. I'm _not_ a monster!"

Julia froze at his words, a strange deja-vu feeling coming over her. Goosebumps ran down her arms. Just how accurate was Ana's telepathic nightmare? She didn't want to find out.

"You need to leave. Now," she murmured, straightening up in her bed.

Roman furrowed his brows, confused by her sudden switch in demeanor. "What? Julia, what the hell is going on? One minute you're mad, the next you don't even want to talk this out?"

"There's nothing to talk about."

"You're not even giving me a chance!"

"I don't want to give you a chance! So, just leave. Please," Julia pleaded, unable to meet his eyes.

Roman made a few, confused sounds as he tried to wrap her brain around what she was saying. She wanted him...to leave? Staring at her face, he could tell she was on the verge of breaking down from the way her hands tightened around her blanket. He took a few steps forward, but abruptly stopped when Julia began to get up.

"Get out. I'm not going to ask again," she said evenly, waver at the end.

"Fine." He growled, turning around for the door. Roman left the room, slamming the door behind him. The walls vibrated with the force. As he began to leave, though, he swore he could hear more of her sniffles.

 **The Academy, Alpha Dorm**

 **January 5th, 06:00 PM EST**

**2022**

Raven crept into the room, sighing with relief when he saw it was empty. Last thing he needed right now was Jack going into "Dad Mode", as the rest of the team called it. He quickly walked through the dorm, hoping to get to his bedroom before anyone noticed him— if they were even home. With half the team in the Med Bay, everyone was probably scattered and dealing with their own problems.

Just as Raven made a beeline for his room, he heard Carla's familiar voice.

"Raven? What are you doing?"

"Oh, um…" he blanked for an appropriate excuse as to why he was discharged from the hospital so early. "I wanted to finish my nap…?" The nap Julia had ripped him from seemed more than only a few hours away.

"Aren't you supposed to be in the hospital?" she walked closer, her eyes squinting in suspicion.

"Uh, probably." he shifted uncomfortably. "But...I couldn't really sleep with all the beeping and the doctors and...you know."

Carla's demeanor softened. She really hadn't seen Raven this... _vulnerable_ in a long time. Not since Avi got shot, and even then, he bounced back pretty quickly. "Why don't I make you some tea and you can get some rest? You do look a little tired."

"I shouldn't be. The doctors said I was unconscious the entire time Ana… did the thing," Raven's voice quivered slightly at Ana's name. "But I just feel so exhausted."

"I'm guessing you were tired of all the visitors and doctors barging in, too," Carla gave him a small smile. Her stomach flipped at the shakiness in his voice; it was an unusual thing for her to hear.

"Yeah," he admitted, and his frown deepened even further. "I kinda feel like I should have stuck it out. Coming here just feels like...I'm hiding—"

"Raven. You're not hiding. You're a kid first, hero second. Understand? We're all kids. Everything we're doing is absolutely insane, but don't feel bad for taking care of yourself."

Raven stayed silent, his silver eyes focused on the ground. "When I was in...my head...I had a vision of my parents. I had a vision of when they died. I just...have never felt so helpless in my entire life," he slowly spoke, a somber look on his face. "I didn't feel like someone who's been trained at one of the best superheroes Academies ever. I felt like a child. Helpless. And now..." he gestured to his bedroom door.

Carla nodded in understanding. "How do you think I felt with that toxin? I was dying and there was nothing I could do about it. But, Raven, we're all kids just trying to handle what we've been dealt. All we can do is our best, and you're doing your best."

Raven nodded silently, a soft sigh escaping him. "Can I have that tea now? I think I'm just going to go to bed. I'll probably feel better after some sleep."

"Of course. Do you have any preferences?"

"Huh?" Raven paused, opening the door to his room.

"Tea. What kind of tea do you want?"

Raven hesitated. He wasn't the most knowledgeable on what types of tea they had. "You can choose."

Carla watched him leave until the door shut, then moved towards the kitchen to start a pot of tea.

 **The Academy, Teacher's quarters**

 **January 5th, 06:30 PM EST**

**2022**

The sun had just begun to set over metropolis; the dying light made the snow on Harvard's balcony glitter as he stepped out, shutting the door behind him.

The cold air stung his cheeks, but the vodka in his liquor kept his blood warm. Harvard dusted the snow off a patio chair on his balcony, and sat down, watching the sun go down.

After a day like today, all he really wanted was to be alone. No Rashid breathing down his neck; no Lediv being the ass he was; no stupid Alpha Team winding up in life or death situations.

Just Harvard and his liquor. And the occasional thought about Sam.

Lediv had stirred up some unwanted thoughts about her, thoughts Harvard worked hard to suppress. Hearing her name made him remember the way her cinnamon hair never straightened, the way her lip curled up at him, the way she always corrected someone if they mistakenly called her 'Samantha' instead of 'Sam'.

Harvard had never, ever told anyone about Sam. He knew Lediv had combed the recesses of his mind to find out about her.

A knock at his glass door startled the man. He immediately reached for his gun, but let out a string of curse words when he realized it was on his living room table.

Someone slid the door open.

"Uh, hello.." Genevieve popped her head out, giving him a sheepish smile.

Harvard let out a deep sigh, rubbing his forehead. "What the fuck are you doing here? No, wait, how are you even in here?"

Harvard pushed past the medic to head inside. He took a long look at the door. The hefty deadbolt he had installed when he first moved in was still in place.

"You should really clean up in here," Genevieve adjusted her glasses, wrinkling her nose at the clothes and newspapers strewn about the room. "You're beginning to seem like a hermit with that lock and this messy room—"

"I repeat, how did you get here?" Harvard turned back to her, arching a brow.  
"You know perfectly well that I can teleport—"

"Only into places that you've been before."

Genevieve bit her lip, chuckling nervously.

"Are you a stalker?"

"No, no! I promise!" She waved her hands quickly. "Remember that time, before Thanksgiving break, when you got sick? From how much you were drinking?"

Of course Harvard remembered. Thanksgiving was only a couple weeks after the anniversary of _her_ death. He was always the drunkest in November.

"Vaguely," he lied.

"Well, you were so disoriented that you snuck out of the hospital and back into your room to get more alcohol. I found you. So...here we are," Genevieve explained.

"Huh. Thanks for your concern. Now, kindly get out of my apartment."

Genevieve gave a small huff, tightening her ponytail that held her loose curls. "I'm here to check up on you, Harvard. I knew today was rough. It was rough on everyone, but especially you."

"I'm doing fine," he grumbled.

"Fine enough not to get wasted? Because I have a feeling that no matter how many bottles you go through tonight," Genevieve's emerald eyes scanned his collection of empty beer and liquor bottles, "None of them are going to make you forget what happened today."

"Why do you care?" Harvard took a drink just to spite her.

"Every time you end up in the Med Bay because of something like this, I have to be the one to treat you!"

Harvard rolled his eyes. "Selfish bitc—"

"And every time you start rambling about this Sam girl!"

That caught him off guard. He paused, his flask pressed to his lips.

"You keep processing her death through this crap. And I'm afraid you're going to process Ana and Phoebe's deaths through drinking, too," Genevieve said firmly, crossing her arms. She was making it clear that she was not budging on this topic.

Harvard let out a low groan, his grip tightening around the flask. "What did I say?"

"What does it matter—"

"What did I say?!" Harvard asked desperately, unsure of how much he drunkenly revealed.

Genevieve brushed some beer bottles off the only, sunken couch in the room, then gingerly sat down. "You kept mumbling things about the explosion and the British army. I had no idea what it meant, so I just let you ramble. Then you said her name and...well… I wanted to do some digging, but I didn't."

Harvard glanced up at her, and nodded in appreciation. "I...appreciate that. I really do, Vive. I, uh, wouldn't want the story to come from anyone else but myself."

"Mind telling me the story?"

"Why should I?" he replied, a little more tersely.

"Because you need to. For your own sake. I won't judge you, Harvard. We all have our demons. Mine was not preventing Elle from becoming vengeful. I hated myself for a long time because I watched the old Elle turn into someone like Luthor. At the time, I thought that maybe this was her just coping. It wasn't. Now, I don't want to make the same mistake with you."

Harvard considered her offer, wondering if there was a chance she'd go home without him talking about his feelings. He knew it was a pretty slim chance, though. Genevieve rarely let go of anything she wanted, especially if it was for someone else's wellbeing.

"Fine. I made a mistake too. A shitty one."

Genevieve waited a moment, but when he didn't continue, she prompted him further. "What...did you do?"

"We weren't supposed to be as close as we were," Harvard begrudgingly spoke. "Maybe I wouldn't feel like this if we weren't. Long story short, I was leading a squad of men on a mission." The look he gave her implied that he couldn't elaborate on the mission, so she didn't press him any further.

"I was told we were in the clear and everything would go smoothly. I trusted them. By the end of the mission, we lost five soldiers and Sam to a land mine."

"It wasn't your fault she died, Harvard," Genevieve said softly.

"I was the leader. A leader is always responsible for his men. I just can't get rid of the guilt. It's been six years and I still can't."

"Guilt isn't an easy thing to rid yourself of. I know I still haven't found my peace with Elle's death. I still feel like I'm to blame for who she became."

Harvard took a deep breath, glancing out the sliding glass door. The sun barely peeked over the horizon and the Academy's courtyard was dark. He could only see the lamps that lined the paved sidewalks.

He looked back at Genevieve's solemn face, her eyes squeezed so tightly as if she were holding back her tears.

Harvard grabbed an unopened bottle off his living room table. "Want a beer?"

Genevieve hesitated, cracking open her eyes to look at it. "I haven't had a beer in forever."

Despite her remark, cautiously, she took the bottle from him.

"Thank you for this."

He nodded. They watched the sun go down, drinking to the thoughts of the loved ones they had lost.

 **Metropolis**

 **January 5th, 10:00 PM EST**

**2022**

"So, the problem is resolved?"

"Mostly," Lediv answered, leaning back in his chair. Files and reports of the day were spread out on the table, and news feed ran in the background of Lex Luthor's holographic call. "It's been a busy day of damage controlling Ana's situation, but I'm pleased to say we have it mostly under wraps. Everyone outside the Academy will only know it was a training accident— partially exacerbated by a student's suicide."

"And what about the Academy, Luthor?" Amun Rashid interrupted from beside Lediv. "Surely we can't send the students back to class like nothing ever happened."

On the hologram call, he could see that Luthor's face was impassive, which usually meant he was contemplating his options. "We'll shut the school down for a week. We'll say it's a necessary act for the mental and physical healing of our students."

"And we'll offer 24 hour therapy access for any students that need it," Rashid added as Luthor nodded his head in appraisal.

"That'll make us look good," Lediv murmured.

Luthor's beady eyes turned to him. "You said yourself my image wasn't too damaged when you scanned the minds of the reporters at the Daily Planet this evening. Were you lying?"

"No," Lediv scoffed. "Always so worried about the long term, Luthor, and never focused on the present. Your image is fine. Re-election should be a piece of cake. Just keep doing what you're doing and let me handle the background things."

"That's what I like to hear. Rashid, how are _you_ handling background things? Are you keeping a lid on Phoebe Phantom's death? We can't have any students or staff knowing the reality of what occurred last night. Especially Genevieve LaRoux. If she goes crying to the press or her friends at the Light of Justice…"

"Don't worry. Harvard, Lediv, and I are the only people at the Academy who know what happened," Rashid assured him. "Nonetheless, I do think Ms. LaRoux is becoming...problematic. She's helped out the Alpha Team many, many times. We don't need anymore of that."

"Take care of her. I don't want to hear another thing about her— except for when the deed is done."

Lediv could hear someone's garbled voice in the background of the call and Luthor looked away for a brief moment.

"Yes, yes, I'll be right there," he snapped, then looked back at Lediv. "I have some business to attend to at Cadmus. Remember, my image is the most important thing we must preserve. It is our key to staying in power."

Lediv nodded briefly, rolling his eyes. "Whatever you say."

The call was abruptly ended soon after.

"My image is the most important thing we must preserve," Lediv mimicked in a high pitch voice.

"Well, it is, isn't it?" Leon Coal asked from across the meeting table. He, Haru, and Mercy Graves had been patiently waiting for their boss' call to end across the room.

"In some aspects, yes. But image doesn't matter if you have hundreds of enemies who don't care who you are or who your policies are," Lediv grumbled. "We have much more things to worry about other than re-election—"

"Like the Alpha Team," Rashid finished.

"No, not even them. Truth be told, I don't even know why Luthor wants them all dead. Gezie, Julia, Roman, Raven— yes, they all need to go. But Avi and Travis? They're still useful. Imagine if we could expand Travis' abilities to sap energy from others. Imagine the ways we could use that."

The others in the room just stared at Lediv in absolute silence. Mercy Graves snickered; the others didn't know much about Lediv, and neither did she. But the one thing she did know was that he was an absolute genius.

"Imagine if we used that on an enemy army. They would fall so quickly—"

"You've made your point," Rashid cut him off curly, disliking the fact that a seventeen year old was more intelligent than him.

"But I haven't yet," Lediv wagged a ginger at the older man, standing up. "Lex is so… closed minded when it comes to these things. Yes, expanding power is great and all, but why does he have to do that with superheroes? Why does he need Bee?"

Haru leaned forward in her chair, resting her chin on her hand. "If I remember correctly, Bee was one of the main reasons he got elected, using her enthralling on the electorate. And now he has to return the favor."

"Yes, but why honor that favor? Why can't we just take Bialya for ourselves?"

Haru was silent, glancing at the others in the room. It seemed Lediv wanted an answer to this question.

"The time isn't right yet, Lediv," Mercy said softly. "Wait a little bit. I'm sure Luthor knows this."

"Maybe, maybe not," he scoffed, sitting back down. "But one thing is for sure. I'll take over for Luthor if he can't finish what he started."

 **.x.X.x.**

 **Woooooow. That chapter totally got knocked out in three weeks. Yaaaah baby!**

 **Anyways, this will probably be the last "quick" update for awhile. School starts soon, and we will be really busy. But, for now, enjoy this super long chapter. Only six more to go…**

 **So, last chapter, y'all couldn't review for some reason. That kinda sucked. So, if you didn't PM us your review/answers, please go ahead and lump that in with your Episode 4 review. We'd really like some feedback on both chapters, especially since we put so much time into writing this stuff.**

 **A little recap: lots of angst and emotion, not so much action. This chapter focused on characters we don't get to see too often: The Teachers, Luthor, Lediv, and our villain team (We really had fun writing these scenes, tbh). It was a chapter very heavy on developing and revealing parts of their characters, so hope y'all paid attention. We got to explore Roman and Julia's relationship, we had a little scene with Raven and Carla (something new), and a scene where the team is in the public eye.**

 **Honestly, this chapter wasn't too heavy on the Alpha Team, and it was really refreshing to write.**

 **Next chapter, we'll be exploring more new things as the team gets a little break from school….**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **Please review both chapters if you already haven't!**

 **~The Fangirls**

 **Questions:**

 **What is your OC's home life like (based on their present situation/personality in the story)**

 **What would they be doing over the break?**

 **After the events of the past two chapters, who would your OC go to for support?**


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